A Namekian in Halkeginia
by KXZ501
Summary: After dealing with a disturbance in the spirit realm, or 'Other World', a certain Namekian warrior finds himself transported to an entirely new world, summoned by a young female mage with strawberry blond hair, and a horrendous track record of spell casting. Little does the young Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere know exactly what she's in for...
1. Of Portals and Summons

**A Namekian in Halkeginia**

**Disclaimer** – I do **NOT** own either Dragon Ball Z or Familiar of Zero. Dragon Ball Z is owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama. Familiar of Zero is owned by Yamaguchi Noboru.

The idea for this story was a little something I cooked up while working on 'The Echoes of War' (which, unfortunately, has to be put on hold for now, due to external circumstances). As such, this one will kind of come together as it goes along, rather than having any kind of set plan.

As for the setting of the respective sides of this crossover – in terms of the DBZ side of things, it'll be set post Buu Saga. As for the FoZ side of this, it'll be set at the very start of the series. Also, there's going to be some slight alterations to story canon (mainly on the DBZ side) to help with the flow of the story.

And just a quick heads up for this story – yes, I do plan on using the English names for characters, attacks and other techniques throughout the story (mainly in regards to the DBZ side of things). I grew up watching the English version of the show, so I'm going to stick with what I'm familiar with.

"Blahblahblah" – Speech  
_"Blahblahblah" _– Thoughts

**Chapter 1: Of Portals and Summons**

It was the dawning of another beautiful day on Planet Earth, rays of sunlight filtered through the morning clouds as flocks of birds flew through the skies above and wild animals roamed the fields below. Off in the distance, the early morning hustle and bustle of the waking West City could be heard, should those of keenest hearing listen closely enough.

And atop one of the many plateaus dotting the region, a long figure sat, or more accurately, floated in a seated position. Dressed in a simple purple martial arts gi - with an accompanying blue belt, brown training shoes, and white cape and turban - this solitary individual floated in perfect stillness several feet off the ground, eyes closed and hands clasped above his crossed legs as he went though his usual early morning meditations.

Opening his eyes, the figure looked out over the grassy plains below, letting out a slow controlled breath as he took in the swaying forests, rolling rivers, and grazing wild animals around him. All-in-all, it was quite the idyllic sight to be greeted with.

_"Another peaceful day,"_ Piccolo mused to himself, a smile crossing his face as a cool breeze blew around him, causing his cape to flutter in the wind. _"Looking at it from here, you'd never have guessed this world had endured the horrors of monsters like Cell or Majin Buu."_

Indeed, the almost serene landscape before him was a far cry from the battle-scarred environments of years past. In the three years since the defeat of Majin Buu through the combined efforts of Goku and Vegeta, the Earth had experience an unprecedented period of peace, much to the relief of all those involved in the battles against the terrifying pink monstrosity; and even though all knowledge of the Majin Buu incident was effectively erased from the history books – thanks to the restoration of Earth via the Namekian Dragon Balls – the people of Earth still bore the memories of Cell's brief reign of terror.

Turning his musings from the harrowing ordeals of the past, the meditating Namekian found his thoughts wandering to the events of the past few years following Buu's defeat, and

Following the restoration of the Earth – given that Buu had literally destroyed the planet itself – and the erasure of all knowledge of Majin Buu from the memories of the general populace, celebrations were in order for Earth's unsung heroes. Courtesy of Hercule, a party was thrown at one of his private residence out in the country side for all those involved in the titanic struggle for Earth's survival.

After the celebrations had wound down, happenings had taken a return to normality: most of the Z Warriors resumed their usual training, though some – like Krillin with his family duties, and Gohan with his studies – did so a a slightly reduced pace. Thankfully, in Gohan's case, the boy had finally grown enough backbone to put his foot down regarding his mother's constant insistence that he focus solely on his studies, arguing that all the studying in the world would be pointless if the Earth was destroyed. After several heated arguments, Chi-Chi finally relented and agreed to allow Gohan to resume his training, on the condition that he divide his free time equally between training and study; a condition the eldest son of the Son family was more than happy to agree to.

Interestingly enough, Hercule's daughter Videl had also taken a greater interest in the kind of training Gohan and the other Z Fighters routinely undertook, going so far as to practically demand that Gohan start training her to 'properly fight', as she put it; and despite the initial reservations of some of the Z Fighters – mainly out of concern that Videl simply wouldn't be able to handle their kind of training without a serious 'kid gloves' approach – the young woman had actually taken the challenge head on without hesitation, and even relished it a few times. As such, she eventually managed to raise her own power level to a rather respectable level, given the usual company she wound up training with. In fact, she had managed to raise herself to the point where she could actually go toe-to-toe with the likes of Krillin and Tien, even if the Z Warriors in question were holding back somewhat.

In regards to Krillin himself, he was both luck and _unlucky_ this his wife - none other than Android 18 - understood the importance of keeping themselves strong enough to protect the Earth: luck, in that the former pupil of Master Roshi didn't have to worry about his training being impeded too greatly by family life; and _unlucky_ in that this same understanding from his wife meant that she was now routinely training with him...or to be more precise, _training_him herself, given that her power level was actually greater than his. As such, this meant Krillin rarely walked away from his training unscathed. Then again, this same intense level of training meant the earthling's own power level had practically sky-rocketed, to the point where he could now even match his wife in a full-on spar.

In Tien and Chiaotzu's cases, the two spent most of their time training day after day in the secluded mountains ranges around the planet, though they would often join up with Gohan, Krillin, 18, and even Piccolo for bouts of sparring and practice. Like Krillin, they too had raised their power levels exponentially, to the point where Tien could even hold his own against Piccolo or Gohan at first level Super Saiyan, with Chiaotzu only fractionally behind him.

As for Goku and Vegeta, the last two pure-blooded Saiyans continued their own training in full force, often at times sparring with one another, or their sons, for hours on end. As a result of such constant and exhaustive training, the former Saiyan Prince had finally followed Goku's example and attained the power of a Super Saiyan 3. Furthermore, it had gotten to the point where Goku and Vegeta were now practically on the level in regards to their own respective power levels; yet despite this, and his usually rough and brash attitude, Vegeta had mellowed considerably in the past few years, most likely due to his own fatherly role in raising Trunks.

Speaking of Trunks, he and Goten had improved themselves leaps and bounds over the years following Buu's defeat. At the world tournament almost a year later, a special exception had been made for the two at the behest of Hercule, allowing them to participate in the adult division, where they performed tremendously, even against their fellow Z Fighters.

And it only continued upwards from there. Eventually, transforming into a Super Saiyan became almost second nature for the two rambunctious youths, meaning that even at their respectively young ages, the two were able to provide a serious challenge for anyone sparring with them, even including their own fathers. More often than not, simple training matches escalated into Super Saiyan melees.

As for Piccolo, his activities had taken a rather interesting turn the past few years...

Shortly after the defeat of Majin Buu, and the restoration of the Earth, Piccolo was jointly contacted by both King Kai and King Yemma during one of his routine training sessions, and presented with a special proposition. As it turned out, the severe chaos brought about by Majin Buu's actions had an indirectly disruptive effect on the spirit realm, or 'Other World', as it was often referred to by Goku and the other Z Fighters. As such, the ogres that usually took care of the souls that sent to them were struggling to deal with some of the more problematic entities, such as Turles, the Ginyu Force, Frieza and his Father, Lord Slug and Cell.

Because of the problems these particularly troublesome entities were causing, even after they were dead, the natural energies of the Spirit Realm were being knocked out of balance, resulting in a lot of unnatural occurrences, such as dead spirits – both good and bad – returning to Earth, or even appearing on other worlds, and causing untold problems merely through their presence alone, nevermind what they actually did from the time they re-appeared to when they were eventually returned to the spirit realm.

To counter this new problem, King Kai and King Yemma approached Piccolo and proposed to recruit him as a warden of sorts for the spirit realm. The job basically involved Piccolo, when required, going to the spirit realm and put a stop to any rampant havoc being caused by the likes of Frieza, Cell, Dr. Gero and other such wayward evil spirits.

To their surprise, the Namekian took them up on their offer with little fuss: according to Piccolo himself, the position would 'give him a chance to put his skills to good use', given that as a result of his own continuous training, his power level had reached a level where he could not only comfortably match Goku, Gohan or Vegeta at their Super Saiyan 2 forms, but stand a good chance of beating them, too. Of course, Goku and Vegeta still had their Super Saiyan 3 forms, and Gohan possessed his Mystic form, or 'Ascended' form, as he put it, so Piccolo still had a while to go before he could truly match any of those three.

So, after taking up the offered 'warden' position, Piccolo spent a fair amount of time in the spirit realm, usually dealing with any of the more problematic individuals who decided to kick up a fuss, or try their hand at escaping their new home. As a result, Piccolo also spent some time in the more pleasant areas of the spirit realm, on a few occasions taking the chance to train and spar with the some of the afterlife's more powerful warriors, such as Olibu, Pikkon...or even Yamcha.

On that note, Piccolo was reminded of a less than pleasant memory: when the Androids had first appeared in their timeline, Yamcha was one of the first to encounter them when they attacked South City, and despite a brave effort, he was grievously wounded in battle with Android 20, otherwise known as Dr. Gero; and despite their best efforts to save him, Yamcha eventually succumbed to his wounds and died before they could heal him.

However, when they went to wish him back with the Dragon Balls, Yamcha strangely opted not to be brought back. The reason for this decision was that despite giving it all he had, the androids had dispatched him with almost embarrassing ease. Not only that, but even if they did wish him back, he would likely wind up just getting killed by the next big enemy that came along, and then wished back again.

Furthermore, being resigned to simply watching from the sidelines because he simply wasn't strong enough didn't sit too well with Yamcha, so staying within the spirit realm would give him a chance to train harder than ever before, especially with the Kais and all the powerful warriors already residing in the afterlife. So, after a heartfelt goodbye to his life-long friends, Yamcha departed remained within the spirit realm, where he would once again train under King Kai, along with the many warriors already within the afterlife.

Oddly enough, Piccolo had bumped into Yamcha a few times during his stints as a spirit warden, so to speak; as it turned out, Yamcha had made good on his promise to train himself hard, and had become one of the most powerful warriors in the spirit realm. As such, the two wound up sparring and training on occasion, during Piccolo's free time when he wasn't keeping wayward spirits in line.

At one point during, however, Yamcha had seemingly disappeared from the spirit realm. Despite his concerned for his friend's safety, Piccolo was told by King Kai not to worry about it. Eventually, the former Z Fighter turned up again, acting as if nothing unusual had ever happened. When pressed by the Namekian on the issue, Yamcha had merely grinned, shrugged him shoulders and said 'he was busy'. Regardless, whatever Yamcha had been up to during his period of absence, he seemed none the worse for it.

Suddenly, Piccolo found himself snapped from his musings, his focus brought speeding back to reality as a familiar voice popped into his head.

"_Piccolo, Are you there?"_ came the voice of King Kai inside the Z Fighter's mind, a slight hint of irritation in his tone, the cause of which Piccolo had a very good idea. _"We've got trouble; seems Frieza and Turles are causing problems and trying to break out of Hell again."_

"_Lucky me,"_ the Namekian replied as his signature smirk appeared on his face. _"I was actually hoping for a workout today, too."_

With that, Piccolo stretched out of his meditation position and stood up, relishing the cracking sound that accompanied the rolling of his shoulders. Then, placing two fingers on his head, he focused on a suitable location within the spirit realm, and readied himself to translocate.

"_I really should thank Goku again for teaching me this,"_ he thought briefly, before his body then flickered, and he vanished from sight.

* * *

_Elsewhere..._

It was that time of year at the Tristain Academy of Magic – a place of growth and learning for the budding mages of tomorrow from all across Halkeginia – for the second-year students to undergo the customary ritual of summoning their familiar Spirits, otherwise simply referred to as 'Familiars', from wherever in the world they came.

To a mage, a familiar was essentially a second set of eyes and ears; what the familiar hear and saw, the summoner did too. Familiars could take on any form, from something as common and mundane as a cat, an owl or a frog, to more exotic and unusual such as an iron golem, an ice dragon, or even a floating eyeball with wings. Whatever their form, these familiars would follow their summoners from the moment they were summoned and contracted, until the day they passed away and returned to their place of origin.

At this very time, one of the last classes of students were finishing the summoning of their familiars. Some students had summoned fairly common familiars, such as cats and dogs, while other students had achieved much more interesting results, such as flaming salamanders and giant moles.

All save one _particular_ student, however...

"Alright then,"said Professor Jean Colbert, the instructor overseeing the 'Springtime Familiar Summoning ritual' as it was known, while he ticked off another student, carefully noting down which students had summoned which familiars, along with any other important details, such as estimated or approximated element for students who had yet to identify their own magical affinity.

Once he was done, he turned to the last remaining student yet to summon a familiar.

"Are you ready , Miss Valliere?"

The student in question – one Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere – was a second year student with strawberry blond hair bordering on bright pink and amber coloured eyes; and despite being sixteen years old, looked much younger than she actually was. However, those were not the only notable characteristics about her.

For a second year student at the Academy of Magic, Louise held one of the highest scholarly grades in the school when it came to the theoretical side of magic. Unfortunately, when it came to the more practical applications of magic, young Louise held an abysmal record of a literal 100% failure rate. Despite her successes at in the theoretical fields, she had been unable to cast a single successful spell in her entire tenure to date at the Academy.

All of her spells, regardless of element or purpose, would cause some kind of explosion_without fail_, the size and strength of which varied on factors such as the type of spell, the elemental affinity of the spell, how much willpower Louise was exerting when attempting to cast the spell, and in some cases her emotional state at the time of casting.

Despite her own inner nervousness, the young mage put on an outward air of collected calmness as she turned to face her teacher.

"Yes, Professor Colbert," she replied with a short nod, albeit subtly gulping nervously despite maintaining her facade of confidence.

Once she had acknowledged her teacher, Louise stepped towards the summoning circle, wand in hand. As she moved forward, she could just about hear the gossiping of her classmates behind her.

"Looks like 'Louise the Zero' is up next," one student remarked, a somewhat mocking emphasis placed on the word 'zero'.

"Do you think she'll summon anything interesting?" inquired another student in a hushed tone.

"I'll bet she doesn't summon anything, and just blows up the summoning circle," another student scoffed quietly, eliciting a few chuckles from other nearby students.

"I'm sure after all that boasting she did earlier, that she'll summon something fantastic, right Louise?" a particularly buxom redhead asked while petting the head of her own summoned familiar, which appeared to be some kind of flaming salamander.

Louise herself simply blocked out the jeering of her classmates, and focused exclusively on the task at hand. The summoning ritual was a make or break event for her; a chance for her to finally prove to her peers that she wasn't the pointless failure of a mage she was made out to be and mocked almost constantly for; a chance to prove she was a real noble, and a proper mage worthy of being called such.

In short, the familiar summoning ritual was the single most important moment of Louise's life to date. At this point, it was either go big...or go home.

And Louise hadn't the slightest intention of going home; partly out of fear at the unrelenting mockery that would surely follow her, and partly out of fear at how her parents and siblings would react to such a turn of events. Mainly, however, it was out of sheer desperation to finally prove to both herself and her peers that she was a true mage, and not just some worthless pretender.

When she reached the summoning circle, Louise took one last nervous gulp, not even bothering to hide her nerves at this point. Then, her wand clutched tighly in her hand, she raised her hands and began chanting the summoning incantation...

* * *

_Back in the spirit realm..._

"And that takes care of that," Piccolo said as he brushed himself down, having wrapped up the situation with relative ease. Sadly, despite Frieza and Turles having increased their own powers during their incarceration in hell, they had still proven no real challenge to the Namekian, and as such were swiftly defeated.

In fact, Piccolo hadn't even been forced to removed his weighted cape and turban; a definite sign that the prior battle hadn't even classed as a warm-up for the impromptu 'spirit warden'.

"So much for a proper workout," the Z Fighter grumbled, wondering what to do now that his time was once again free for him to use as he saw fit. Maybe he would go spar with some of the other warriors residing in Heaven, or pay King Kai a visit; perhaps he would even go see what Yamcha was up to at this time.

Regardless, whatever thoughts Piccolo had in mind were quickly interrupted, his eyes widening slightly when he suddenly sensed an unusual energy nearby. Turning in the direction the energy was coming from, he closed his eyes and sought out the source of this strange presence. After a few moments focus, the Namekian had pinpointed the location of the energy to one of the lower regions of the spirit realm; not quite in Hell itself, but not far from its border.

Quickly pressing two fingers to his forehead, the Namekian singled out a location near the strange energy and vanished from sight, the air shimmering as the Z Fighter flickered into existence at his chosen location.

Looking around, the Namekian was greeted by the sight of many strange and colourful floating crystal, stretching out for as far as the eye could see. At the same time, he could sense the strange energy much more accurately than before. However, while he could tell it was nearby, something about the energy was preventing him from pinpointing its exact location.

So, as it turned out, he was going to have to find whoever or whatever this thing was the old fashioned way - with his eyes. With his guard up and his wits about him, Piccolo cautiously advanced forward, ducking and weaving his way though the almost maze-like cloud of floating crystals as he sought out the source of the mysterious energy.

And after several dozen minutes of searching, the Namekian finally found what he was looking for...which oddly enough, turned out to be something he hadn't expected.

There, only several metres in front of him, was a strange portal of some kind. It glowed a vibrant green colour around the outer edges, while the inside of the portal itself was like a shimmering glass window, albeit one looking out into an extremely think fog.

Carefully approaching the oddity, Piccolo slowly raised a hand up to touch the centre of the portal, wondering if he would get any kind of reaction from it.

However, just as his fingers were about to make contact with the unusual opening, he heard something that made him pause. It was incredibly faint, but he could have _sworn_ he just heard someone speaking.

_...please...servant of mine, who exists somewhere in this universe..._

The Namekian recoiled slightly from the portal, blinking in surprise and not entirely sure if he had heard that right. Before he could ponder it, however, the faint voice echoed again.

_...my divine, sacred, and powerful familiar..._

"What the hell?" the Namekian growled uncertainly. By now, Piccolo was getting properly confused. Was this portal a doorway to another world? And what was with that voice? What was this he was apparently hearing about 'servants' and 'familiars'?

Taking a cautionary step backwards, the Z Fighter went to contact King Kai about this unexpected development, when the same faint voice from before called out again. This time, however, it was far less faint, and the Namekian could practically _feel_ the energies of the portal beginning to act up.

_...I ask of you from the bottom of my heart...answer my call!_

The moment those last words were spoken, the portal before him flared to life, seeming drawing in the surrounding energies. Not only that, but more alarmingly, Piccolo suddenly found himself unable to properly move. His entire body felt like it weighed several thousand tonnes, his movements sluggish and his limbs unresponsive.

What really set of the alarm bells in Piccolo's mind, however, was the fact that he was now slowly being dragged towards the portal, likely by the same energies coming from it each time he heard the voice; and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't redirect himself in anyway.

It wasn't going to be a case of _if_ he got dragged into the portal, but _when_...and the moment he made contact with it, the portal erupted with energy in a blinding flash of light.

The next thing Piccolo knew, there was a very loud explosion, before he was then greeted with a face full of dark smoke.

* * *

_At the Familiar Summong ritual..._

The instant she had completed the incantation, Louise spun the tip of her wand through the air, then aimed it at the ground in front of her.

The second she did – and much to her despair – an almost excessively large explosion erupted into existence, throwing out a massive cloud of dust and smoke across the immediate area. Not only that, but the explosion had generated such immense force that everyone – Louise, her classmates, and even Professor Colbert – had been quite violently blown off their feet.

"Just as expected..." one student groaned as he coughed the smoke out of his lungs.

"Typical of 'the Zero', eh?" another student moaned as the gathered students slowly pulled themselves to their feet.

"Geez, Louise..." the same chesty redhead from before coughed as she dusted herself off. "I know you're fond of those explosions of yours, but don't you think _that's _overdoing it a little?"

Louise herself, however, never bothered rising from he knees. As she had feared, the one chance she had to prove herself had – _quite literally_ – blown up in her face. With her chance gone, there would be no going back: she would have to accept defeat, and likely leave the academy, whether it be from her own shame or her parents decision to put her to better use...

Whatever mocking taunts he classmates were throwing at her went unnoticed by the diminutive pinkette, despair slowly overwhelming her as the reality of the situation gradually sank in. At the same time, the shouted instructions of Professor Colbert also went unheeded, as the balding teacher sought to regain control of his rowdy class.

Yet just as she was almost completely overcome with despair, the sound of heavy footfalls caught Louise's attention. Not only that, but said footfalls were, in fact, coming from the direction of her supposedly failed summoning...

Slowly lifting her gaze upwards, the pinkette could just make out a shadowed form advancing towards her through the smoke. For a brief moment, the young mage was practically buzzing with sheer joy at the prospect of having successfully summoned a familiar.

However, that same joy then slowly turned to apprehension; while she had apparently succeeded in summoning a familiar...she didn't quite know what, in fact, she had summoned. From the general shape of the advancing entity, she could at least tell it was vaguely humanoid in shape – a golem of some kind, perhaps?

But even with the still dissipating smoke obscuring her view, there was at least one thing about her summoned familiar she could tell with complete certainty – it was _big_. Even from here, Louise could tell it was taller than even Kirche and Professor Colbert...and by a fair margin, too.

Awkwardly stumbling to her feet, the young mage instinctively took a step back as the smoke finally dispersed, and she was finally able to get a proper look at her newly summoned familiar.

Standing proud and tall, her familiar was decked out in some rather unusual attire: he – or at least, she assumed it was a he, judging from his towering physique – wore a strange purple outfit, brown shoes, a blue belt, and a white cape and head piece. Even stranger than his outfit, however, was the fact that his skin was, in fact, bright green with several pink patches of what looked like muscle adorning his arms. On top of that, his larger than normal ears pointed upwards more than any normal human's would.

Given the presently good opportunity to take in this newest familiar's appearance, several of the students began gossiping amongst themselves at the sight before them.

"He's huge!"

"Look at his ears...did Valliere summon an elf!?"

"Elves don't have green skin...do they?"

"Elf ears point outwards; his are pointing upwards."

"He looks like a commoner in that outfit..."

"...what kind of _giant green_ commoners have you seen?"

For Louise, however, the most striking feature wasn't her familiar's height, nor his outfit, skin or even his ears.

No – for Louise, it was his eyes. Her towering familiar had glanced down at her for all of a split second, his eyes meeting hers before he turned his steely gaze towards her teacher and the rest of her classmates. However, in the brief instant where they had locked eye contact, the youngest child of the Valliere family went completely rigid, as if a jolt of lighting has passed through every fibre of her very being.

There was an unreal presence within those eyes; a sheer intensity that Louise had never before seen in her entire life, that damn well near electrified her when she caught a glimpse of it. Hell, she could practically feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end.

Right there and then, Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere knew one thing above all else: she had summoned something...no, _someone..._immensely powerful.

How powerful, exactly, she had no idea. All she knew, though, was that her familiar was _powerful_.

She also couldn't help but notice that the moment her familiar turned that same steely gaze on her fellow classmates, the gossiping and chatter stopped dead almost immediately.

And then, to her complete surprise, her familiar spoke; and not only that, but she understood him!

"Alright; where am I?" he growled roughly as he turned his attention towards Professor Colbert, the same intense look in his eyes. Then, before the balding teacher could reply, Louise's mysterious familiar turned his gaze directly downwards towards the pinkette herself, and spoke once more.

"And what the hell is going on?"

* * *

And there we go...Louise has just brought forth one particularly pissed of Namekian.

I wonder how this will play out – and not just for Louise, mind you.

Anyway, like I said, I'll pretty much be winging it with this story as I go.

And like I also said at the start, my other story – 'The Echoes of War' – is unfortunately on hold due to external difficulties.


	2. Introductions

**A Namekian in Halkeginia**

**Disclaimer** – I do **NOT** own either Dragon Ball Z or Familiar of Zero. Dragon Ball Z is owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama. Familiar of Zero is owned by Yamaguchi Noboru.

So, Piccolo has arrived on Halkeginia, courtesy of a summoning ritual by none other than Louise herself.

In regards to the previous chapter, there's a reason why I upped Yamcha's power level the way I did, however, it doesn't mean he's suddenly going to be taking on Super Saiyans with total ease. All that was said is that he and Piccolo would spar from time to time.

Also, to clarify a question in one review – yes, Gohan has achieved his Mystic form in this story. If you go back and read through the first chapter, you'll see Piccolo mentions it at one point in the first section.

As for the matter regarding the obviously massive discrepancy between power levels in this story, you'll be glad to hear that I have a plan in mind to resolve that issue, without gimping Piccolo's power via plot device, authorial hand-waving, or burdening him with the 'idiot ball'...one which, I hope, you guys will like.

Finally, for those of you wondering how Piccolo will react to Louise and her 'usual' personality/attitude – well, all I'll say is don't worry – you, hopefully, won't be disappointed.

"Blahblahblah" – Speech  
_"Blahblahblah" _– Thoughts

**Chapter 2: Introductions**

To say Piccolo was pissed would be an understatement.

One moment, he was simply dealing with another incident of unruly deceased villains causing trouble in hell; and then next thing he knew, he had been dumped on an unfamiliar world by a strange portal, greeted by an explosion to the face – despite it not even scratching him in the slightest – and now found himself surrounded by a bunch of oddly dressed children all wearing the same or similar outfits, a gaggle of strange looking creatures, and an balding older man in a robe and carrying an unusual staff.

Even more alarmingly, the Namekian realised he couldn't sense any familiar ki signatures; not Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Krillin...none of them!

And as if that wasn't bad enough, he couldn't even sense the presence of the spirit realm, either – normally, if he focused his thoughts, he could sense the familiar energies of King Kai, King Yemma, or even some of the warriors of the afterlife he had become acquainted with; yet Piccolo couldn't even sense them, either.

In short, Piccolo was currently lost – by himself – on an unfamiliar world, surrounded by a crowd of oddly dressed children, their strange looking creatures, and a balding man with a strange staff; and to top things off, he couldn't detect even the slightest traces of any familiar ki signatures.

So yes; saying the Z Fighter was pissed would definitely be an understatement.

However, Piccolo was not one to lose his cool so easily; while the situation was far from ideal, it wasn't totally screwed up...well, not yet at least.

The first thing he needed was information: where he was; who these people where; what they were doing, why he had been brought here; and most importantly, how he could get back home.

Sadly, it looked like acquiring said information would be much easier said than done – rather than actually respond to his questioning, the gathered crowd instead merely gawked at him with confused, questioning looks on their faces. Oddly enough, the small girl with the pink hair standing closest to him seemed to be the only one not looking at him as if he'd just sprouted a second head.

The Namekian face-palmed with a sigh. If his suspicions were correct, they likely didn't even speak the same language as him, though he seriously hoped their lack of response was simply due to shock or surprise. Nevertheless, he decided to try again, in the faint hopes that he might get somewhere a second time.

"Alright, let's try this again," he exhaled with an irritated groan as he crossed his arms again, never once taking his eyes off the humans before him. "Where am I, and what is going on here?"

An uncertain frown appeared on Louise's face the moment her familiar spoke again; unlike the first time, when she had quite clearly heard him ask about where he was and what was happening, this time he sounded like he was speaking an entirely different language. The young mage could only wonder why she had been able to understand him the first time, yet couldn't understand him now.

Whatever the reason for this was, her thoughts were interrupted when Professor Colbert finally spoke up.

"I don't know if you can hear me, familiar, but we don't understand what you're saying," the bespectacled teacher said while hesitantly scratching the back of his neck. In truth, Colbert had already suspected that the familiar didn't speak their language when the towering green giant had spoken the first time.

Now it was Piccolo's turn to be confused, the balding man's reply coming out as nothing more than garbled gibberish to the Namekian, which unfortunately proved his earlier hypothesis correct; they were indeed speaking different languages.

"_Well, so much for getting information,"_ he mentally grumbled at this latest setback. As if being stranded all alone on an unknown world wasn't bad enough, there was now a language barrier to contend with as well. Piccolo could only wonder how much 'better' this day could get.

Just then, an idea came to the Z Fighter; if spoken word couldn't get the job done, then he would just have to rely on a more universally understood language: hand gestures.

Uncrossing his arms, Piccolo slowly and carefully began another attempt at trying to communicate with the humans around him. With any luck, even these people should be able to grasp what he was saying this time.

"I," he began, pointing at himself.

"Don't," the Namekian said while slowly shaking his head from side to side.

"Speak," he continued, making a talking motion with his right hand.

"Your," he next added, followed by pointing to at both the pinkette and the balding man.

"Language," Piccolo finally finished, pointing to his mouth.

Once he was done, Piccolo crossed his arms and awaited their response. If this didn't work, the Namekian wasn't entirely sure what he would, or could, do next to try and find out even some basic information about his current surroundings.

Thankfully, his latest attempt seemed to have done the trick, as the confused expression on the bald man's face soon changed to one of realisation.

"Ahh," Professor Colbert smiled as he turned to face Louise, casually stroking his chin. "It appears I was correct; we're speaking different languages, hence our problems communicating."

Louise and her classmates simply nodded along with the professor's explanation; after all, it seemed to make sense, given how even with the gestures her familiar had used just there, they still couldn't understand what he was saying.

Opting to copy the familiar's example, the Colbert began his own attempt at formulating a response. He started off by raising an open hand towards the green-skinned figure, showing that he had no ill intent. After a nod from Louise's familiar, the professor began formulating his own message.

"I," he started, pointing to himself.

"Cast spell," he said while slowly waving his staff back and forth.

"You," he then gestured towards the Namekian.

"Speak," Colbert continued

"Our," he said, pointing first at Louise, then at himself.

"Language," he finished, pointing to his own mouth.

Hopefully, the miss Valliere's familiar would understand his message; otherwise, they could potentially be here all day. Thankfully, the green figure seemed to understand what the older mage was getting at, simply nodding a second time once the teacher was finished. So, with an understanding established, Professor Colbert began chanting a short incantation, followed by pointing his staff at the muscular green-skinned individual.

The moment the balding fellow had pointed his staff towards him, Piccolo felt an unusual chill running through his body, quickly followed by odd sensations of both heat and sound. However, this lasted only mere seconds, for as soon as they had appeared, the strange sensations were gone.

Taking a moment to check himself over in case anything was amiss, the Namekian then levelled his gaze at the magic user in front of him.

"Assuming you now understand me, I'll say this only once: if that little spell of yours did _anything_ other than let us understand each other, we're going to have trouble...got it?" Piccolo warned the balding mage, cracking both his knuckles and his neck for emphasis.

The nervous looks on the faces of some of the children told the Namekian that they could definitely understand him now. However, the bespectacled mage himself retained an air of calm composure, seemingly unfazed by the Z Fighter's potential threat.

"No need to worry there, friend," Professor Colbert replied with a friendly smile, again holding up an open palm as a sign of peace. "As you have probably guessed, it's just a simple translation spell to help us understand one another."

Piccolo continued to eye the man for a moment, to see if he was telling the whole truth. However, the Namekian could sense no deceit behind the man's words, so for the time being he would trust the man to uphold his word. All the while, he noticed that the nearby pinkette was still eyeing him with an expression akin to a mix of awe and wonder.

"Well, since the language barrier is no longer an issue, I'll repeat what I originally said," Piccolo start, eyes shifting down to the young girl, then back the bald mage as he spoke. "Where am I, and what is going on here?"

Professor Colbert took a moment to clear his throat before answer the familiar's questions. "You are in Tristain, Familiar; specifically, on the continent of Halkeginia." The professor raised an eyebrow at the brief frown that appeared on the towering figure's face before continuing. "Furthermore, I am Professor Jean Colbert, Magic Instructor here are the Tristain Magic Academy."

Giving the familiar a moment to processor that information, the mage then continued. "As for what is happening, I am currently overseeing my students while they complete the 'Springtime Familiar Summoning' ritual, as part of their second-year study requirements."

Piccolo nodded at the professor's explanation, taking a moment to process this newfound information. "And what exactly is this ritual you're talking about?"

"As I said, the 'Springtime Familiar Summoning' ritual is a sacred requirement for any second-year students curriculum here at the Magic Academy," Colbert began, pausing momentarily to clean his glasses, before resuming his explanation. "It is through this ritual that the students summon and contract their familiars; magical servants, essentially, whose duty it is to server and protect their summoners."

"And how long does this 'contract' last?" the Z Fighter then asked.

"The contract between a familiar and their summoner is generally a life-long contract, expiring when either a familiar or their summoner eventually passes away," Professor Colbert replied, readjusting his glasses.

Slowly, the cogs in Piccolo's mind were turning, as everything fell into place: if he was correct, this man Colbert and these children were all magic users of some kind; and since this was a 'familiar summoning ritual', as the teacher had put it, then the odd creatures hanging around near the child mages would no doubt be these 'familiars' he spoke of.

Furthermore, the fact that the pink-haired girl had been separated from the other children meant that she was likely the one performing the ritual just now – the same 'familiar summoning ritual' that was very likely the reason the Namekian was even here in the first place.

Turning his attention towards the strawberry blond in front of him, Piccolo eyed her closely as the last piece of the puzzle slotted itself into place.

"So, given what you've told me about this ritual and these familiars, that pretty much means one thing," the Namekian stated with narrowed eyes as he turned to the diminutive girl, his steely gaze never leaving the tiny pinkette's eyes.** "You summoned me here to act as your familiar...right?"**

"Y-yes...that's correct..." the young Valliere managed to stutter out, being somewhat unnerved by the look her familiar was giving her. Despite part of her saying that she had nothing to fear from him, something in her mind told Louise it would be best not to say or do anything that might...antagonise her familiar. For some unknown reason, the idea of making this towering giant angry in any way came off as a very _bad_ one.

Yet at the same time, part of her couldn't help but feel almost _excited_, especially when she saw that same intensity as before in her familiar's eyes. Something about it sent her mind racing, wondering just what kind of entity she had summoned...something she was definitely eager to find out.

Piccolo merely continued to look down at the girl standing in front of him, noting the way that she subconsciously held her ground despite her evident anxiety in the presence of the Namekian. She was an interesting one, alright – perhaps that was part of the reason she had wound up summoning him here.

Speaking of which, the Namekian suddenly noticed that he was sensing an unusual energy coming from within the girl; and it wasn't just her, too – he could sense similar energies coming from both the teacher and the rest of the children. Curiously enough, the two highest energies he sensed came from the teacher...and his apparent summoner.

Reviewing the information he had on hand, Piccolo came to the conclusion that he had two available options.

The first was to go through with this whole 'summoned familiar' routine; however, that would mean essentially submitting himself to a life-long contract to some kid mage and prolonging his stay on this world for who knows how long...a notion that didn't entirely appeal to the Namekian, if he was being completely honest.

The second was to simply up and leave this academy, disregard everything that had happened with the whole 'familiar summoning ritual' business, and essentially wander across this world, hoping to eventually find some way of getting back home...another notion that, again, didn't particularly sit well with the seemingly stranded Z Fighter.

Weighing up his options, Piccolo soon decided upon a course of action.

Piccolo briefly eyed the girl again, this time with a more curious look than before, then turned back to the Professor Colbert. "So, how is this ritual completed?"

The professor took a moment to fix his glassed, then explained the final steps. "Once the contracting incantation is complete, the summoner seals the contract by kissing the summoned familiar."

Piccolo gave the teacher a dead-pan look upon hear this. "Please tell me you are joking with that last part."

However, Professor Colbert's unchanging expression said otherwise, much to the Namekian's annoyance. Rubbing his temples with one hand, the Z Fighter continued with another question.

"Well, Is there any _other_ way to finish the ritual?" Piccolo groaned in annoyance.

The balding mage scratched his chin for a moment, before replying once more. "Well, it's not the most orthodox method, but Miss Valliere – your summoner, by the way – can simply Tap the summoning circle with her wand and focus her Willpower into that instead."

Hearing that put the Namekian in a slightly better mood.

"Alright, let's get this over with then," Piccolo remarked, causing the young Valliere's eyes to widen as she looked at him, that same look of awe and wonder from before practically plastered across her features.

Want to not waste any more time, Louise responded with a quick nod, then brought up her wand and began waving it about as she chanted the necessary incantation. "My name is Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere. Pentagon of the Five Elemental Powers, bless this humble being, and make him my familiar!"

Once the spell was complete, the young mage tapped the magic circle at Piccolo's feet. For a brief second, nothing happened. Then, there was a flash of bright light.

The Namekian briefly pondered how long this contracting ritual was going to take; however, his thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a strange burning sensation suddenly erupted on his left hand. Hardly the worst pain compared to what he had been though before, Piccolo brought his hand up to his face, watching as strange markings began to inscribe themselves upon his skin.

For a moment, Piccolo wondered just what he was getting himself into.

"_Maybe this won't be so bad aft-"_ the Z Fighter began musing, only to cut himself off mid-thought. Where the hell had _that_ come from? He hadn't agreed to this because he thought it might be worth while; he done so because the only other alternative would be to aimlessly wander around a world he had no knowledge of.

Shaking his head, Piccolo watched as the runes slowly continued etching themselves into the back of his hand, wondering what the others would make of this. _"Me, one of the strongest warriors from Earth, being contracted as the summoned servant to some mage kid; I can only imagine what the others would have to say, especially...Gohan?"_

The Namekian's eyes suddenly widen.

Even though it was only for the briefest of moments, he had forgotten Gohan's name!

But how was that possibly? He'd known Gohan for most of the boy's life! In fact, he'd been the one who initially taught the boy how to fight and survive! This didn't make any sense...unless...

Glaring back at the runes being inscribed onto his hand, Piccolo quickly realised what was going on: the rune was not only trying to suppress his memories, but also trying to influence him to be more accepting of this contract!

"_Oh, like HELL that's gonna happen!"_ he roared mentally, growling out loud as he focused some of his ki and channelled it into his left hand - specifically at the still-forming runes. Even though they weren't yet complete, the runes were already beginning to shift and change as the Z Fighter pushed more of his ki into them, in order to counter their effects on his mind.

After about a minute, the light from the runes faded as they finished imprinting themselves onto Piccolo's left hand. Taking a moment to collect himself, the Z Fighter waited to see if anything had happened to the rune's effects on his mind. However, he felt no problems recalling any major details and past events from his life, and he didn't feel in any way especially compelled to see out this contract.

In other words, the rune was no longer trying to alter his mind, much to Piccolo's satisfaction. He would still have to deal with this new tattoo on his hand, but that was a comparatively minor inconvenience.

With a sigh of relief, Professor Colbert spoke happily.

"Well, it seems you've completed your familiar summoning ritual without a hitch. Well Done, Louise," the teacher remarked, giving the girl a smile which caused her to beam with pride.

Turning to Louise's familiar, Professor Colbert suddenly noticed the runes one his left hand. Stepping forward, he leaned in to get a better look at them.

"Very unusual runes there..." he muttered almost to himself, before turning his attention to the familiar himself. "Would you mind if I had a look at them..."

Colbert trailed off, realising he hadn't actually asked for the familiar's name yet. However, the towering green-skinned figure seemed to have anticipated his unspoken question.

"The name's Piccolo," the Namekian said, glancing momentarily at 'Louise' before extending his left hand for the teacher to examine. After a thankful nod, Professor Colbert began carefully studying the inscribed runes, paused every now and then to note down any interesting details and make some quick sketches. Once he was done, the mage thanked the Z Fighter, then turned the the class as a whole.

"Well, that concludes the Springtime Familiar Summoning, albeit a little later than planned. For now, everyone should head back to the castle and get acquainted with their familiars," Colbert announced, before turning and making his way back to the castle. The rest of the class and their familiars followed suit, some taking to the air through either magic or riding on their familiars, while others chose to return via foot.

Setting off along side 'Piccolo', as her familiar had called himself, Louise couldn't help but look at the caped giant with great anticipation, ever eager to see just what this familiar was capable of.

Little did she know just what she was getting herself into...

* * *

Having reached the Academy itself, Piccolo spend the next while following his new 'master' through the many halls and corridors of the castle, his cape billowing behind his as they passed many of the students and familiars also residing within the walls of the academy. Every so often, he would overhear passing students commenting on his appearance or catch them giving him funny looks, though it mattered not to him what they said or thought.

As they made their way through the academy, Piccolo was a little surprised to find himself sensing even more energy signatures from within the castle. As with the students he had encountered when he was first summoned, he could sense a multitude of varying energy levels, some stronger than others, and some weaker than others. Like with Louise and Professor Colbert, a few of the energies he detected were significantly greater than those around them, most likely belonging to members of the teaching staff. Even then, however, they were almost minuscule in comparison to Piccolo himself. It was quite disappointing, actually, but given this was an entire institute that focused on the teaching of magical theory and practices, Piccolo had hoped that at least someone here would have possessed a comparably decent measure of power in contrast to his own.

Sadly, this didn't appear to be the case; as such, it looked like he wouldn't be facing any decent challenges in the immediate future, so he would need to find another way or two of keeping his skills and abilities sharp.

Along the way, the Namekian had observed the rising of not just one, but _two_ moons in the now evening sky; something that both surprised and amused him, considering that he had actually destroyed the only moon the Earth had, after his former student Gohan had transformed into a Great Ape, or Oozaru, and nearly gone on a destructive rampage. It was kind of ironic in a minor way that he should be summoned to a world with two moons, while his own had none, and entirely because of Piccolo himself.

Eventually, they had reached Louise's room, on one of the upper levels of the student dormitories. Though smaller than anticipated, in part due to Piccolo's larger than normal size, the room was big enough to fulfil its intended purpose. Even then, to the Namekian the room still felt cramped, what with all the additional – and in his opinion, mostly needless – furniture scattered around the room; namely, a bed near the room's single window, a round table with an oil lamp and two wooden chairs, a large wardrobe and a single dresser. Strangely enough, he also noticed a small pile of what looked like hay, nestled into the corners of the room nearest the window.

Piccolo's eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly; if this kid thought she was going to tell him to sleep on some pile of hay, she was _sadly_ mistaken.

Anyway, regardless of any sleeping arrangements his young 'master' had in mind, the Z Fighter had more important matters to attend to – namely, a nice long chat regarding the specifics of the new situation between himself and the pink-haired mage child. However, before he could even open his mouth, the young girl had already started talking to him.

"Now that we're settled in, we need to lay out some ground rules," Louise began, the almost condescending tone of her voice already aggravating the Namekian. "As my familiar, you will have several duties; the most obvious of these being to protect me, your master! Along with this, you will also be required to attend to my needs, and assist me in my daily activities, should I require it."

Piccolo's could already feel a small vein threatening to bulge out on his forehead; if she thought he was some servant or errand boy to be ordered around as she pleased, then she was in for the shock of her life. Yet once again, he was cut off before he could even utter a word, a small wooden basket suddenly dropping to the floor at his feet, followed in quick succession by a bundle of clothing.

"Right now, you can make yourself useful, and clean those clothes of mine," the pinkette continued rattling orders at him, having already slipped into her nightgown. "Also, I'm going to bed now, so I expect you to wake me at dawn, understood?"

By now, Piccolo's temper was threatening to snap; he didn't know who the hell did this brat thought she was, pouting demands at him the way she did, but he was **NOT** in the mood for this right now. Clenching his fists tightly, the Z Fighter was ready to give the girl the biggest bollocking of her miserable little existence. However, when he turned to face her, he was greeted by the sight of a wooden door closing shut in his face.

For a moment, the Namekian was taken aback with confusion, wondering how in hell he'd managed to wind up outside Louise's room without even noticing. However, as quickly as it had come, his confusion disappeared, replaced instead by sheer overwhelming _**RAGE**_. His eyes twitched randomly, the caped Z Fighter practically shaking with a fury that threatened to erupt right there and then. He'd dealt with a lot of stuff in his life, but being ordered around by some pompous brat with an inflated sense of superiority was simply out of the question.

"_There is NO WAY this bullshit is going to continue,"_ Piccolo snapped mentally, angry hissing breathes escaping through his gritted teeth, the basket of clothing at his feet being completely ignored. _"I don't care who this kid thinks she is, but that attitude of hers is getting dealt with, even if I have to drill it out of her myself."_

Suddenly, Piccolo's anger vanished almost as rapidly as it had manifested, his signature grin slowly spreading across his face – that last thought had just given him a brilliant idea. However, he would need to do some more information gathering before he could decide whether or not it would be a viable plan, particularly in regards to both his little 'master' and the magical energies of this world. Having calmed himself down, he turned and looked down at the clothing-filled basket next to him.

Part of his was extremely tempted to rip Louise's room door off its hinges, take the bucket, turn it upside down, and dump the whole lot on top of the little brat. However, as amusing and satisfying as that would be, it wouldn't really get him anywhere. Besides, petty bickering wasn't really Piccolo's style. Instead, he simply leaned down and scooped up the basket in one arm, the cogs in his mind already turning as he thought up any positives that could be gained from his current predicament.

"Well, at least this gives me a chance to do some exploring," the Namekian snorted with disdain for his summoner's current antics. "Besides, if I can't find anyone to deal with this mess, then little 'Louise' is just going to find an unexpected gift waiting for her."

With that in mind, the Piccolo visualised a decent place to start exploring from – in this case, the entrance foyer of the academy – and put two fingers to his forehead.

A moment later, he flickered out of existence, basket and all.

* * *

Having just finished dusting down the statue in front of her, a young maid by the name of Siesta gathered up her cleaning gear and moved down to the next item in the hallway; the marble bust of a former Academy Headmaster. Thankfully, today had been a relatively easy day, what with most of the second-years being out of the castle for the day, dealing with their familiar summonings. As such, it had given the cleaning staff a good chance to get through the work quicker than usual.

Setting down her cleaning gear, she took out a small cleaning cloth and some polish, and began wiping down the marble bust, taking great care to be as gentle as possible, lest she accidentally knock it from its perch atop a small waist-high stone pillar. However, she was suddenly interrupted before she could properly start her task.

"Excuse me," a rather deep, gravely voice came from behind her, catching her completely by surprise. With a loud squeak, the maid jumped back as she spun around to face whoever or whatever had snuck up on her. Unfortunately, this resulted in her jumping back into the marble bust she was planning on cleaning, and knocking it clean of the pillar is sat atop. However, before it got anywhere near the floot, a large green arm shot past her and caught the bust with almost inhuman reflexes, before placing back atop its designated resting place.

Taking a moment to catch her breath, Siesta looked up to find herself face-to-face with an exceptionally large figure. At first, her mind went into a panic, wondering who this person was, and what they were doing here. However, after getting a proper look at the person in front of her, she realised he was actually one of the familiars that had been summoned today. Siesta let out a sigh of relief as she realised she wasn't in any real danger after all.

"Sorry about that," Piccolo said holding up an open palm in apologetic fashion. "Didn't mean to startle you that badly."

"I-It's no problem at all, r-really," the maid replied with a slight stutter, before hesitantly extending a hand. "I-I'm Siesta, one of the cleaning staff here at the academy; how can I help you?"

The Namekian had to admit, while this girl was a little on the shy side, he already found himself preferring her personality to that of his master's; in contrast to the bratty pinkette, the black-haired maid was already proving much more pleasant and helpful. Accepting the offered gestured he gently shook hands with her, careful not to exert to much strength through his hand. "The name's Piccolo; and I guess you could say I'm one of the newly summoned familiars."

Siesta nodded with a polite smile, explaining how she had spotted him walking alongside one of the students earlier on, and had assumed as much. Piccolo remarked about her good intuition being spot-on, causing the maid to blush slightly, before explaining his current predicament to her. After hearing him out, the black-haired maid happily offered to deal with his summoner's laundry, and took the basket from him before heading off to one of the nearby wash rooms. However, she was pleasantly surprised to find Piccolo following her, stating that accompanying her would be a good chance for him to further explore the academy and familiarise himself with his surroundings. Siesta, in turn, was more than happy to have some company at that moment, explaining that night duties could get a little lonely from time-to-time.

Eventually they had arrived at the wash room, where the maid quickly set about dealing with the laundry bundle. However, she was rather taken aback when she found the Z Fighter floating above the floor at the opposite side of the room. After explaining that he was simply meditating to pass the time while the maid worked, the two wound up making some idle conversation about nothing in particular. Eventually, Siesta had finished dealing with Louise's laundry, and handed the now-filled basket of freshly cleaned closed back to the Namekian. With a appreciated nod and a short thanks, the Namekian put two fingers to his forehead and translocated himself back to his young summoner's room, leaving a stunned Siesta alone in the washing room.

Once he was back in Louise's room, Piccolo casually dropped the clothing basket onto the floor, not really caring if he happened to wake up the sleeping girl. However, when the slumbering pinkette failed to react to the minor noise, the Namekian couldn't help but frown slightly. Still, that was one less problem for him to deal with, as he wasn't really sure he would have been able to put up with the brat moaning at him for not getting her clothes cleaned without destroying something out of sheer frustration.

Silently appearing next to her bed, the Namekian looked down at his summoner with crossed arms.

"Enjoy your fleeting 'superiority' while it lasts..._kid_," Piccolo chuckled quietly to himself, his signature grin again appearing on his lips, his plan of action slowly began to form in his mind.

"Because come tomorrow, you're in for one _hell_ of an early wake-up call."

* * *

So yeah...Louise has gone and _royally_ put her foot in it. I'm probably not the only one who thinks she's going to seriously regret pissing off Piccolo like that.

Anyway, I realise this chapter isn't exactly much in terms of overall story progression; still, at least it's setting up for some better proceedings down the line.


	3. Laying Down The Law

**A Namekian in Halkeginia**

**Disclaimer** – I do **NOT** own either Dragon Ball Z or Familiar of Zero. Dragon Ball Z is owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama. Familiar of Zero is owned by Yamaguchi Noboru.

I must admit, it's a little funny just how close some people are with one or more of their guesses (though I'm not saying who, or what, mind you).

All I will say, however, is that some of you are closer than you think, so interpret that as you wish.

Moving on, I would just like to take a moment to clarify one or two points regarding the story.

First off: no, Piccolo is NOT going to be 'an expy of Saito', as one review put it; the very idea of someone like Piccolo simply nodding his head and taking orders from anyone – much less a bratty child like Louise – is outright laughable, to put it lightly. Hell, I was actually hoping that little bit at the end of the previous chapter would have hinted at just how potentially bad a mistake Louise had made in getting on Piccolo's bad side.

Second, I know full well that even at 'Saiyan Saga' level, Piccolo is complete overkill for the FoZ universe. As such, I am fully aware that current Piccolo (as in, that of this story) could easily wipe out the entirety of Halkeginia without even warming up or batting an eyelid.

As for the point about the mages not wanting want to anger someone as powerful as Piccolo, you have to take into consideration that, at this point, they don't actually **know** anything about the Namekian; to them, he's essentially just an oversized, green-skinned humanoid with a strange outfit. Not only that, but other than giving Siesta one hell of a surprise when he Instant Transmissioned away at the end of the previous chapter, he's not shown or used any of his powers or abilities yet. Therefore, the mages of the academy don't actually know what he's capable of...yet.

Finally, the main reason Piccolo even agreed to the contracting in the first place was information; bear in mind he is currently stranded on an unfamiliar world, with no idea how to return home. As such, I would like to think common sense would dictate that the people summoning him would be the best people to provide said information. Besides, while this is just my own opinion, I don't imagine the mages would be too happy about an uncontracted familiar wandering around the academy, even if only for safety reasons; hence, Piccolo going along with the contracting.

Anyway, I've rambled long enough – so on with the show we go!

"Blahblahblah" – Speech  
_"Blahblahblah" _– Thoughts

**Chapter 3: Laying Down The Law**

The curtains of Louise's room wafted back and forth slowly as a gentle breeze blew in through the open window. Outside, the faintest tinges of light could be seen at the edge of the mountainous horizon, thin rays of sunlight casing a gently glow over the plains and forests surrounding the Academy.

Inside her room, Louise slept soundly in her bed, pink hair sprawled out across her pillow from the occasional turning and moving she did during her sleep. However, she wasn't alone in there...at least, she wouldn't be for much longer.

With a slightly warping of the air, Piccolo suddenly appeared as if out of nowhere at the far side of the room, opposite his summoner's bed. The Namekian had taken the liberty of spending the previous hour exploring the academy and the surround grounds, to help familiarise himself with the lay of the land. Taking a quick look out the open window next to him, a small grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.

"_Judging from the faint sunlight, it should be dawn in roughly another hour," _Piccolo noted mentally as he turned his gaze towards Louise's sleeping form, his eyes narrowing very slightly as he observed the girl mumbling in her sleep. _"So that gives the kid and I plenty of time for our much needed talk."_

Indeed, setting the record straight on this whole 'familiar contract' thing had been one of Piccolo's main priorities – next to finding a way back to Earth – since the summoning ritual had finished. The sooner the girl understood the situation proper, the better.

And yet, while his young summoner gave off an outward appearance of calm composure, he could tell she was putting on an act. In truth, he'd actually noticed it while they were first making their way back to her room: while she would have looked genuinely happy from a distance, by being up close Piccolo had seen it in her eyes – fleeting glimpses of anxiety, uncertainty, doubt...and possibly even a little desperation.

At first, it puzzled the Namekian as to why the girl should have had any concerns regarding the result of her summoning ritual, though he quickly recalled that the rest of the students back at the ritual all seemed to possess animal or beast-like familiars, while Louise was the only one to have summoned a human-like familiar. Perhaps there was some kind of social or cultural stigma attached with having another person as a familiar, hence the strawberry blond's apparent underlying apprehension.

However, as they passed through the halls of the academy, most of the other familiars Piccolo had spotted were also beast or animal-like in appearance, with the occasionally familiar resembling either animated suits of primitive armour, or humanoid constructs made out of dirt, stone or even metal. If his suspicions were correct, then Louise might be the only person at the academy to have summoned a _person_ as a result of the ritual.

Furthermore, he had also overheard a few passing students refer to the girl as 'Louise the Zero', or comment on how her spell hadn't 'blown up in her face, like usual'. Even if he was on another world right now, the most likely reason for someone to be nicknamed a 'Zero' was as a sign of failure; and given the previous comments about spells exploding, the Z Fighter had to guess that she likely didn't have much success when it came to using magic.

As such, it was entirely possible that this possibly inability to properly cast magic – coupled with an unusual familiar summoning – meant that Louise had been ostracised by her peers, though to what degree the Namekian was uncertain.

Whatever the case, Piccolo could deal with his summoner's problems later, if he was so inclined – right now, though, he had more important matters to attend to; namely, this whole 'familiar' against the far wall at the opposite side of the room, he uncrossed his arms, and using his innate ability to extend his limbs, stretch one arm out and grabbed the edge of the slumbering pinkette's bed frame. Then, as silently as possible, he lifted the bed off the ground, raising it several feet above the floor.

The Z Fighter paused briefly to enjoy the moment, a sly grin spread across his face.

"Rise and shine, kid," he chuckled to himself.

And with a smirk, Piccolo let go of the bed, and watched that wonderful force known as 'gravity' work its magic.

With a resounding _CRASH_, Louise's bed hit the floor like a ton of bricks, the young girl snapping bolt upright with an astonished cry as she was noisily and roughly jostled from her sleep. Shaking her head from side to side, the pinkette noticed her bed covers strewn messily at the bottom of her bed, followed by Piccolo leaning against the opposite wall, arms folded across his chest. Noting the air of disinterest around him, the pinkette fixed her familiar with an irate scowl.

"What just happened here, Familiar?" the girl exclaimed loudly, still confused as to what exactly had ripped her so suddenly from her slumber. To her annoyance, however, the Namekian merely shrugged in response, all the while giving the girl with an almost uncaring look.

"How should I know?" came Piccolo's blunt reply, his tone laced with a trace of indifference. "One minute, you were sleeping like a damn log; the next, you're thrashing about like a lunatic."

Glowering slightly at her familiar's last remark, Louise shook her head and gave her eyes a short rub before hopping out of bed. Making her way over to her wardrobe, the girl spotted the clothing basket she had given to Piccolo last night lying at the foot of her bed. "Well, it seems you managed to get my clothes cleaned, at least."

Just then, the pinkette noticed the open window next to the Namekian – and the distinct _lack_ of light coming from outside. Quickly scooting over to the window, she was taken aback to find it wasn't actually dawn yet.

"Why is it still dark outside?" she asked irately, turning to the towering Z Fighter with her hands on her hips, throwing him another annoyed glare as she spoke. "I thought I told you to wake me at dawn, not before it!"

"Well, there's been a change of plans," Piccolo shot back, glancing downwards out the corner of his eye at the fuming child. "You and I are going to have a little chat."

Louise blinked at her familiar a few times, before her face once again took on an annoyed expression, feeling almost indignant that her familiar would dare try and dictate to her what would be happening. "Now see here, familiar; it was I that summoned you here in the first place, therefore I expect you to ob-"

"Sit your ass down, and SHUT UP!"

Louise practically leapt backwards in shock, gawking wide-eyed at the way Piccolo had just roared at her. Not only that, but the fact that he was now towering over her, combined with the pissed-off glare that made her blood run cold, meant the already diminutive pinkette was suddenly feeling very small right now – almost like a bug, in fact.

"W-W-What?" the young mage stammered shakily, mustering what little courage she could find at the moment, only for it to vanish when she once again locked eyes with her familiar.

"You heard me," Piccolo growled, his steely gaze not once leaving the now trembling girl in front of him. "Sit down, and shut up."

with an audible gulp, Louise promptly sat herself back down on her bed, hands clasped nervously on her lap as she watch the Namekian continue to glare at her.

"Now, let's get one thing straight, kid" Piccolo began, eyes locked firmly on the current source of his annoyance. "I am **NOT** some spineless slave you can just push around as you see fit, nor am I some errand boy who'll do your menial chores or clean up after you; so if you think for even one second you can just bark orders at me and expect me to comply with them, then you are SADLY mistaken – is that clear?"

The pinkette could almost feel the blood draining from her face at the edge in Piccolo's voice; and while a small part of her wanted to speak up, to object to being spoken to this way – and by her familiar, no less – the combination of her common sense and survival instincts told her than interrupted her familiar, especially in his currently angred state, would be a _very_ bad idea.

"C-Cystal..." Louise stuttered instead, nodding along in subdued fashion as she looked towards the floor. Already, she could feel the tears threatening to start streaming down her face: her she was, being browbeaten by her own familiar into accepting _his_ terms for their familiar-summoner partnership, and there was little-to-nothing she could say or do otherwise.

It didn't help that her familiar had damn well nearly scared her to death mere moments ago, with that outburst of his.

"Good," Piccolo remarked in a much cooler tone, all the while keeping his eyes firmly on Louise. "And while we're at it, I have a name: it's 'Piccolo', and I expect you to use it from now on. Understood?"

Again, there was a short nod from Louise, followed by a barely audible sigh of defeat; one that the Namekian, with his superhuman hearing, picked up easily.

Now despite being determined to put his foot down and make sure this girl properly understood the situation between them, Piccolo couldn't help noting the almost despondent look she was now wearing, along with the way her shoulders sagged and how she trembled ever so slightly; and while he had no intention whatsoever of being soft or easy on her in any regard, he wasn't planning on completely breaking her spirits, either.

Luckily for her, it wasn't all going to be bad news.

"Now, as for protecting you..." the Z Fighter began, almost smirking at the hopeful look on the Louise's face, her head shooting up the moment she had heard him. "That, I _can_ do; after all, if I'm going to be stuck here looking for a way back home for the foreseeable future, then I might as well put my skills to some kind of use in the meantime."

"And for the record, the only reason I even agreed to that 'familiar contract' in the first place was so I could get access to whatever information is held here at this academy," Piccolo stated firmly, eliciting a dumbfounded reaction from the pinkette who was no openly gaping at him. "See, the way I figure it, who better to ask about a way back home than the very people who brought me here to begin with."

The stunned look on Louise's face was actually a little entertaining, if the Namekian was being honest. Still, he could see in her eyes that she didn't quite believe him in regards to his last claim.

Well, if that was case, then he would just have to turn her world upside-down.

"And just so you know I'm not bluffing about that..."

Piccolo then raised his left hand up and clenched it into a fist, the back of his hand facing Louise so she could clearly see the familiar ruin etched up his skin. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen, the pinkette fixing her familiar with a question look as she wondered what he was going to do.

Suddenly, the Z Fighter's fist began to shake slightly, with the rune on the back of his hand beginning to glow at the same time. At first, the only noticeable occurrence was the brightness of the glow gradually increasing; however, after a few seconds – and too Louise's complete and utter disbelief – cracks began appearing upon the inscribed runes.

With each passing second, more and more cracks began to appear and spread as the glow of Piccolo's familiar runes continued to intensify, almost to the point where they became too bright to look at directly. On top of that, thing rays of intense light began erupting for the various cracks that had already appeared.

Louise could hardly believe what she was seeing: her familiar's binding runes were being destroyed, almost as if they were coming apart at the very seams of their existence!

With eyes widened to their fullest extent, her gut suddenly felt tangled in knots as she realised she truth of the situation...

She had summoned a familiar capable of undoing their own binding runes.

And yet, just as it seemed her familiar's display of power was reaching its peak, it stopped dead: Piccolo's hand stopped shaking, the familiar runes stopped glowing, and the cracks disappeared, leaving the runes exactly as they were only moment ago.

Piccolo couldn't help but smirk as he looked down at Louise, what with the girl doing her best imitation of a fish out of water, her gaping mouth opening and closing without a sound as she gawked at him in wide-eyed stupor. With his point made, the Namekian unclenched his fist, and crossed his arms again.

"So there you go; and just so we're clear on this, I'm here because I choose to be – give me one good reason, and I'm gone," the Z Fighter finished, jabbing a thumb towards the door of Louise's room.

After what she had just witnessed, Louise couldn't really do anything else other than nod along dumbly. Indeed, the very implications of what had just transpired nearly blew her mind: never before had a mage summoned a familiar capable of breaking its own binding runes.

Not in recent times; Not in recorded history...not ever.

And yet here, standing right before her, was not just a familiar capable of breaking their binding runes – it was _her_ familiar; and while Louise already had a strong suspicion that her familiar was powerful, the idea that he was _that_ powerful was mind-boggling.

In any event, Piccolo felt that he had done a sufficient job in setting the record straight with the girl. With one objective completed, the Namekian turned and went to leave the room.

"Anyway, I'm heading out," he informed his summoner as he reached the door leading out into the castle. "Thought I'd familiarise myself with the area and get a feel for the terrain...that's not a problem with you now, is it?"

Louise, still trying to process what had just happened, couldn't muster any words to respond to his question, instead just shaking her head rapidly while giving him an appeasing look.

"Good," Piccolo replied with an unseen smirk as he reached for the door. However, he paused the moment he took a grip on the metal handle, taking a second to look back over his shoulder, his eyes catching Louise's one last time.

"I figure you've got at least thirty minutes until dawn, so do what you will in that time until I'm back," the Z Fighter stated in that same steely tone he had used during their discussion. "However, I would suggest you think long and hard about what I've told you."

"And before I go, I'll say this," he continued, grabbing the strawberry blond's attention yet again. "I don't mind protecting you while I look for a way home; but if you want me to even consider listening to you, then you had better prove to me that you're someone worth listening to."

And with that, Piccolo was gone, leaving the utterly stunned Louise to mull over everything she had just seen and heard in the past half hour; and if Louise was being honest with herself, she didn't really know what to think. It had all been a lot to take in.

There was one thing she was sure of, though...and it was that today was definitely going to be a _long_ day...

* * *

Once he was outside her room, Piccolo decided to move onto his next – and main – objective: finding information on how the magic of this world worked, and what he could to do try and find a way home – and maybe pick up a little extra miscellaneous information while he was at it.

After all, he'd technically already spent an hour earlier exploring the academy grounds and the immediate surrounding terrain, so while he'd technically lied to Louise about his what he planned to do, it didn't really matter in the long run.

And since it was information he was after, he settled on the most appropriate place in which to find it; in other words, the Academy Library. He recalled having spotted it when he first arrived here with Louise following the summoning ritual, then again while accompanying the maid Siesta during his little excursion the previous night.

So, pressing two fingers against his forehead, Piccolo locked in an appropriate location – making sure to pick one away from prying eyes – and flickered out of sight, musing briefly that he _really_ should thank Goku when he got back to Earth...whenever that would be.

* * *

And there we go – Piccolo lets the kid know just who is running the show in this partnership.

I do realise this is somewhat smaller chapter than the previous two – however, that's simply because in it's original incarnation, this chapter was over double its current length.

So yes, that technically means I have most of the next chapter already written – so the next update should be fairly soon – and it's one I think you guys will certainly enjoy.

But yeah – Piccolo basically put his foot down this chapter, and Louise now knows for certain that he is NOT someone to go pissing off.

Hope you guys liked this latest addition, and I hope I managed to ease any fears about Piccolo being a completely out-of-character walking doormat.

And just as a little teaser – the title for the next chapter will be:

'Curbstomp'

So, with that, I'll see you all next time.


	4. Curbstomp

**A Namekian in Halkeginia**

**Disclaimer** – I do **NOT** own either Dragon Ball Z or Familiar of Zero. Dragon Ball Z is owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama. Familiar of Zero is owned by Yamaguchi Noboru.

Like with the previous chapter, I'd like to take a minute to clarify some points regarding this story.

First – no, there will not be any romance involving Piccolo himself. Piccolo isn't the type to get himself involved with "mushy stuff", as he himself has even referred to it before. Therefore, don't be expecting any characters to get themselves involved with the Namekian romantically. The closest thing you'll get to that with Piccolo is a form of camaraderie, or a student-teacher type bond.

However, that's not to say romance won't possibly happen between others characters, though it'll depend mainly on if I can write it well enough for it not to come off incredibly crappy or cheesy.

As for power-crossing between the two serious – well, all I'll say is that Piccolo won't be learning magic. As for anything else...eh, we'll see.

Also, if my information is correct, Piccolo – post-kami fusion – stands at about 7 feet in height, though it might be more.

Oh, and one more thing – no, I won't be changing from the bolded speech/thought format. It's mainly a personal preference thing, plus I feel it at least helps you know when a character is talking or thinking.

And now, on with the show.

"Blahblahblah" – Speech  
_"Blahblahblah" _– Thoughts

**Chapter 4: Curbstomp**

After thirty _very_ long minutes of deep contemplation and thought, Louise decided to get herself ready for another day of study and practice – one _hopefully_ without incident, especially given her new familiar's apparent 'no-nonsense' attitude.

After dealing with the necessary preparations, she exited her room and calmly waited for Piccolo to return. However, when the Namekian failed to show up, the girl started to worry.

"_He wouldn't just abandon me like that...would he?"_ the pinkette panicked, her worst fears springing to mind. It was already bad enough that she had pretty much no control over her familiar, but if word got out that he had just upped and left...she'd become the laughing stock of the entire school!

"As if it's not already like that, anyway," she muttered bitterly, having had to endure almost constant derision and mockery from her peers due to her inability to successfully cast any spell, no matter what element she tried. Some of her fellow students had even gone so far as to remark that she wasn't even a real mage, instead just some silly child pretender acting like one; a notion that cut particularly deep for the young Valliere.

She could already see it now: after everyone had found out her familiar had left her, she would have to leave the school in complete and utter shame, as there was no way she would be able to deal with the sheer volume of taunting and jeering that would surely follow.

After that, she would have to slink home in defeat, where her parents – after a no doubt severe scolding – would likely put her to much better use in service of the family name...such as an arranged marriage. Once that happened, she would be resigned to the life of an unremarkable nobleman's wife, remember above all else as a failed mage who just couldn't cut it.

A most miserable existence, for one as proud as Louise.

Regardless, her thoughts were swiftly interrupted by the one voice she never liked hearing.

"Oh, fancy meeting you here, Louise," remarked the rather busty redhead from the summoning ritual, and on top of that, one of Louise's least favourite people in the Academy.

"What do you want...Kirche?" the pinkette growled through gritted teeth, not wanting to be deal with the girl's taunting at the current moment.

The busty redhead, know by the name Kirche Augusta Frederica Von Anhalt Zerbst, was a second-year student just like Louise, who also happened to be the young mage's rival, given the less than pleasant history between their respective families. To make matters worse, while Louise had so far failed spectacularly when it came to practical magic, Kirche had proven herself to be a fairly competent fire mage, along with having summoned a rather exotic flaming salamander back at the ritual.

Not only that, but the tanned Zerbst girl took great delight in winding up the pink-haired Valliere child, often by referring to the girl as 'Zero' whenever she fancied.

To say that Louise disliked the girl would be putting it somewhat lightly.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing, what with you summoning that jolly green giant of a familiar," Kirche replied in her usual singsong tone, before eyeing Louise in a questioning manner. "Though, I can't help but notice he's not here right now - any reason why that might be?"

For a split second, Louise wasn't sure what to do. After all, she could hardly tell Kirche, of all people, that her familiar had not only verbally savaged her not less than an hour ago, but now failed to turn up after exploring the academy like he said he would. After a moment of quick thinking, though, an idea came to mind.

"He's currently out exploring the academy, actually," Louise replied confidently, giving her rival a smug grin. When Kirche quirked an eyebrow upon hearing this, Louise decided to expanding a little on her half-truth. "And after he's done, he plans to meet me at the dining hall in time for breakfast."

"I see," the redhead replied, sounding somewhat unconvinced, before a sly smile appeared on her lips. "Well, I guess you'll just have to introduce us when we get there, wont you now?"

Louise paused for a moment, wondering what Kirche meant by 'us'. Her question was quickly answered, though, when the same salamander Kirche had summoned the previous day slithered out from behind her, letting out a small croak when it saw diminutive mage.

"Meet Flame," Kirche stated with a degree of pride, softly patting the flame-tailed lizard on the head, causing the creature to nuzzle into her touch in response. "Quite a marvelous creature, if I do say so myself; however, I'm sure you're familiar will be just as amazing, right Louise?"

Louise wavered for a second, unsure of how to respond to her rival. However, she quickly regained her composure, and simply threw Kirche another smug look, albeit slightly less confident that before.

"Of course," the strawberry blond retorted, hands placed firmly on her hips. "He is _**my**_ familiar, after all."

"Good good," Kirche smiled in a seemingly friendly manner. "I must confess, I am quite curious to meet little Zero's mysterious guardian."

Ignoring the jab, Louise set off for the dinning hall, with Kirche and her salamander Flame in tow. Along the way, Louise kept trying to come up with the most believable sounding excuse as to why her familiar wasn't there, since she was certain that this was going to turn out disastrously when they eventually arrived.

However, much to her combined surprised and relief, Piccolo was indeed waiting next to the entrance to the dining hall. Whether it was sheer coincidence or a stroke of good luck, the pinkette couldn't honestly care; all that mattered was that her familiar was still here. Louise even went as far as to let out a breath she didn't realise she'd been holding, which piqued Kirche's curiosity.

Strangely enough, as they drew closer, Louise realised that Piccolo was reading a book of some kind, though he then put it away the moment he saw them, seemingly tucking it into his purple outfit without issue despite the book's rather large size. Even stranger was that the fact that, despite the size of said book, there wasn't even the slightest displacement of his outfit when he put it away – it was almost as if it just disappeared once it was out of sight.

Regardless, Louise calmly walked up to her familiar and fixed him an with inquiring gaze. "Where did you get that book?"

"Library," was the Namekian's short response as he crossed his arms, giving his summoner a quick nod before turning to the two newcomers. "So, who are your friends?"

"Oh, they're hardly-" Louise began, only to be cut of as Kirche stepped forward, her eyes almost gleaming with curiosity as she sized up the tall caped figure standing in front of them.

"I'm Kirche the Ardent," the redhead beamed with pride, on hand placed on her hip while the other rest gently on Flame's head. "The Ardent of burning fire...and smouldering passion, that is. So tell me, who might you be, oh mystery familiar?"

"The name's Piccolo," he replied impassively with his arms still crossed, not caring to indulge the redhead's sense of humour. The Namekian then turned his focus to the fiery red lizard squatting at her side. "I assume this guy is your familiar, right?"

"Correct," Kirche responded with another proud grin, the flame-tailed salamander nuzzling its head into the palm of her hand. "His name is Flame; the vivid fire on his tail signifies him as a salamander from the Fire Dragon mountains."

The increasingly boastful level of pride in that last statement made Piccolo raise an eyebrow momentarily, before his usual stoney faced expression returned and he gave this 'Kirche' an almost disinterested glance. "How nice - any particular reason I should care?"

Again, the redhead found herself frowning at the seemingly cold demeanour of Louise's very tall, and somewhat unfriendly looking familiar.

"Well, this one's got claws, it seems," the Zerbst girl tutted, placing both hands on her hips. After a moment, however, she turned to Louise herself and gave the girl another sly smirk. "In that case, I guess he suits you just fine."

The pinkette was about to snap back at the redhead's jab, when she caught Piccolo glancing her way, giving her a short shake of the head as if it say '_not worth it_'. Thus, the young Valliere merely glowered at her rival, before Kirche turned to address them both.

"Well, it's been fun, little Louise, but I really must be get going," Kirche said in her singsong voice, flashing the Namekian a quick grin before she walked off. "A pleasure meeting you, 'Familiar of Zero'."

With that, Kirche and her salamander moved past Louise and Piccolo, and disappeared off into the dining hall.

For a moment, Louise fumed in silent anger at the way Kirche still teased her, despite having successfully summoned a familiar of her own. After calming herself down, she went to enter the hall herself, motioning for Piccolo to follow her.

However, she didn't get more than two steps forward, before a large green hand grasped her by the shoulder. Looking up curiously, Louise was met with a questioning look from her towering familiar.

"Let me guess," he began, a piercing gaze focused on his summoner's face. "The reason they call you 'Zero' is because you can't use magic or cast spells properly, right?"

Louise grimaced slightly when she heard that, hoping that should would have been able to avoid _that_ particular detail, even if only for a little longer. Unfortunately, it seemed her familiar had a keener eye for detail than she had anticipated, having already discovered both her biggest failure...and her biggest shame.

"It's true..." she sighed dejectedly, hanging her head slightly. "Not once have I been able to use magic properly, or cast a single spell correctly; and the result is always the same, too: whatever spell I try simply explodes in spectacular failure..."

Louise dropped her head even further. The subject of her failure was always a sore point for the young mage. However, her mood was suddenly lightened by a surprise comment from an unlikely source.

"Well, if that's always been the case, then you shouldn't have been able to summon me, or complete the contracting ritual, right?" Piccolo stated , his question snapping Louise out of her brief slump.

The young mage gazed up at her familiar, a perplexed expression crossing her features. Even then, what Piccolo said did make sense – after all, she had indeed managed to both summon and contract a familiar, despite her near-infamous track record when it came to the practical magic studies.

"Besides," the Namekian continued. "If you think about it, all your classmates did was summon animals or other creatures from around this world; you, on the other hand, summoned me here from a completely different one."

That last bit got Louise's attention, her eyebrows arching in surprise. "A...different world?"

"We'll talk about it later," Piccolo stated firmly, before jabbing a thumb towards to dining hall. "In the meantime, we should head inside; otherwise, you'll miss your breakfast."

With a short nod, Louise pushed open the doors to the dining hall and stepped inside, her familiar following her through moments later. However, now she was even more intrigued by her familiar, truly fascinated by this walking enigma known only as 'Piccolo'.

* * *

The Alviss Dining Hall was one of the most impressive creations of earth magic throughout the entire school, having been sculpted in a manner deemed befitting of the students and teachers who frequented the academy.

Once they were inside, Louise moved to a table near one of the walls and took her seat, with Piccolo opting to lean against the wall just opposite her, his ankle-length cape fanning out behind him. While seated at her the table, Louise would occasionally look over her should at her familiar, wanting to keep any eye on him in case he did anything that might attract any unwanted attention.

Of course, she wasn't the only one watching him – most of the other students in the hall were also eyeing the Namekian in curious fashion. Already, rumours had spread throughout the school about Louise's 'strange familiar', and it wouldn't surprise her if everyone soon knew about Piccolo.

Piccolo himself, on the other hand, simply swept his gaze back and forth across the hall, taking in the grand and expressive architecture around him, noting several ornate sculptures lining the edges of the large room, all the while paying no heed to the numerous questioning eyes starting at him from all directions.

Once the Morning Prayer to The Founder had finished, the gathered students began tucking in to their meals, with their familiars eating whatever food their masters had given them, should they require it. Piccolo, however, was one of those familiars that didn't actually require food, due to his people's ability to survive on water alone. As such, he turned down the small bowl of food that Louise had offered him.

Several minutes into the meal, Piccolo turned his attention back to his young summoner.

"Tell me, Louise" Piccolo began, his voice carrying a hint of curiosity. "This 'Brimir' guy was the one who founded your central religion and magic system, right?"

"That's correct," the pinkette responded, wondering where her familiar might be going with his current line of questioning. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious, that's all," the Namekian stated, his gaze wandering back across the dining hall, specifically across some of the other familiars dotted around the room.

"I see," the young mage replied, not entirely believe his answer. After a few minutes, she spoke up again. "Is there anything else you'd like to ask about, Piccolo?"

The Z Fighter raised an eyebrow at the girl, having not expected Louise to even consider indulging his curiosity. Still, at least she'd called him by name, which was an improvement.

"Actually, there is," he replied with a brief smile.

* * *

"I see..." the Namekian trailed off as he and Louise exited the dining hall, a thoughtful look on his face. "So a mage's rank is decided by how many elements they can combine."

"Precisely," Louise replied with a nod. The pinkette was actually pleasantly surprised by their discussion, mainly due to how seemingly clued-up her familiar was on the basics of magic. The girl figured he'd done some reading when he stopped at the library, given the book he was reading when they arrived at the dining hall earlier.

Just then, a thought popped into her head - if she was right, familiars weren't actually allowed access to the library. That gave the girl pause, wondering how Piccolo had even gotten in there in the first place. After thinking it over for a minute, however, she figured he'd probably just given the library staff the same 'death glare' he'd given her during their 'talk' back in Louise's room.

Either way, the two of them had already been conversing for a little while now, and musing on her familiar's stern words earlier this morning, the strawberry blond decided to take the first steps in trying to rectify the situation. Even if she wasn't going to have any real control over him, at least she could try to make it so that the atmosphere between them wasn't so uneasy; otherwise, things could possibly get quite awkward in the near future.

"Uh...Piccolo?" the pinkette began hesitantly, lightly tapping the Namekian on the arm, causing him to glance down at her.

"What is it?" the Z Fighter asked, wondering why the girl was so nervous all of a sudden.

"S-Sorry about last night," she said, bowing her head slightly in apologetic fashion while scratching the back of her neck. While a small part of her told her she shouldn't be apologising at all, much less to her familiar, the rest of her conscience muted such thoughts. "You know...for trying to boss you around like that...and..."

Just then, the Namekian cut her off with a raised hand, an almost intrigued look work on his face. While he hadn't expected that from her, he wasn't entirely sure whether her apology was genuine, or if she was just trying to save face after her earlier browbeating. However, he couldn't detect any deceit in her voice, nor any fluctuations in her energies, so decided to accept her apology as genuine.

"Kids do stupid things all the time; it's only natural," he replied, giving her a short nod. "So I'll let what happened last night slid...this time. From now on, though, consider yourself on probation - understood?"

While not exactly what she was expecting, his response was better than she had hoped for. That, and she could have sworn she saw him smile ever so slightly, though it was hard to tell from the height difference between them.

Still, she wasn't entirely out of the woods yet, though being a Valliere, she viewed Piccolo's parting words from this morning as a challenge: one she had chosen to accept.

So, responding with a nod in return, it was decided: one way or another, she'd prove to Piccolo she was something worth listening to; that she would prove herself a master worthy of such a familiar.

However, her personal mini-triumph was suddenly interrupted, as the sounds of commotion from a nearby crowd caught their attention. Curious as to what was going on, both Louise and Piccolo made their way over to the crowd.

As it turned out, it was quite the commotion going on, with a larger crowd than anticipated following the proceedings.

There, in the middle of the gathering, stood a blond-haired boy, dressed in same uniform as everyone else, albeit his white shirt was current soaked with wine. At the moment, the boy was trying, in vain, to clean himself with a handkerchief. However, while Louise seemed to recognise the boy – and take some enjoyment in his apparent predicament – that wasn't what caught Piccolo's attention.

Standing in from of the blond boy was Siesta, the somewhat shy but quite friendly maid that had helped Piccolo with the clothing matter the previous night. However, it wasn't merely her presence that caught the Namekian's attention, as much as it was her clearly frightened expression, as the black-haired girl stood trembling before the embarrassed blond youth.

"Well, it looks like Guiche finally got caught two-timing," came the surprising voice of Kirche, the redhead having suddenly appeared next to Louise and Piccolo, an almost gleeful mirth in her tone as she spoke.

"Wait, you knew about that?" the pinkette asked incredulously.

"Why of course," the tanned girl responded, one hand on her hips while the other rested in front of her chest in a proud manner. "I like to keep my ears open to all kinds of rumour and speculation - makes for interesting talk, after all."

"_Typical Zerbst," _Louise mused, rolling her eyes at the redhead's last remark. _"Always one for gossip."_

Piccolo, meanwhile, remained silent, merely observing the proceedings from the sidelines. If he was being honest, however, it sounded like the blond idiot had gotten what he deserved, if this talking of 'cheating' and 'two-timing' was anything to go by. Even then, the Namekian had no real interest in such trivial matters, dismissing it as 'pointless human mushy talk'.

He did, however, take a very dim view of the boy's next actions, when the seemingly offended blond shot the black-haired worker a rather nasty scowl.

"I sincerely hope, Maid..." the boy Guiche began with an almost contemptuously tone, as he wiped his face clean of any residual wine. "...that you are prepared to take responsibility for tarnishing a noble's reputation."

"I-It was an accident, I s-swear!" Siesta protested anxiously, afraid of incurring the young noble's ire.

At the same time, a few of the boy's colleagues interjected as well, mostly to get some more laughs in at him, while stating it was his own fault for getting caught red-handed anyway. However, the blond youth was having none of it, insistent that that poor maid was the one to blame.

"I don't know what any of you are talking," he denied, still giving Siesta an unfriendly glare as he took a step towards her. "Thanks to this maid's thoughtless actions, both my and two fair ladies' honour has been wronged; and it will be the maid here who shall make amends for causing this mess."

That most certainly did _not_ sit well with the Z Fighter. Piccolo narrowed his eyes, firmly disgusted by the sheer arrogance the boy displayed right now. The fact that this idiot would not only try to blame someone else for his own wrong-doing, but seek to punish them for it as well, crossed a fine line in the Namekian's book.

And the moment the boy took a step towards the girl was the moment Piccolo took action.

In an instant, the towering Z Fighter was next to Guiche, his cape flapping behind him. The second he was in position, his right hand shot out and clamped down on the boy's shoulder with a vice-like grip. Then, with the barest minimum of effort, the Namekian yanked Guiche backwards, practically pulling he boy off his feet due to his superhuman strength.

All this had happened in one swift motion, faster than anyone in the crowd could follow. By the time Guiche himself even knew he'd been grabbed, he was already face-to-face with a now pissed off Namekian.

"Piccolo!?" both Louise and Siesta shouted, taken aback by the sudden movement, while the rest of the crowd gasped and murmured at this latest turn of events; especially since no-one had even noticed Louise's familiar move until he had already hauled Guiche backwards.

"W-What the hell?" the boy cried at the sudden appearance of Louise's towering familiar. "You're the Zero's familiar! What in the founder's name do you think you're doing?"

"That's what I should be asking you, kid," the Z Fighter almost snarled at the blond ponce as he fixed him with the same pissed off glare he had used on Louise earlier that day. "Just what the hell do you think you're playing at, trying to blame someone else for your own damn mistake?"

"T-This matter is none of your business, familiar," Guiche snapped semi-hesitantly, struggling to remain cool under the intense glare the irate familiar was giving him, along with the fact that the Z Fighter still had a tight grip on his shoulder. "N-Now I suggest you take your hands off me, this instant, before you do something you'll regret."

"What, you mean like taking you down a peg or two?" Piccolo shot back, shifting his grip so that he now had the boy by the collar of his shirt. "Well, from where I'm standing, the only regrettable thing is that someone hasn't already done so."

Despite the Namekian's possible threat, Guiche tried to appear undaunted. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done, seeing as the familiar still retained a tight grip on him. "It would seem that you don't know the proper etiquette for addressing a noble, familiar."

"There's nothing 'noble' about trash,"Piccolo growled, his mouth nearly twisting into a sneer as he roughly released his grip on the boy, satisfied that Siesta was now out of the line-of-fire. "Which is exactly what I'm looking at."

"So that's how it is then, is it?" Guiche spat, almost livid that a mere familiar would dare treat him like this, regardless of how big said familiar was. "In that case, it seems I shall have to teach you a lesson about respect."

"You must be joking," Piccolo dead-panned, almost laughing when he heard that. "What makes you think you can even take me on, much less beat me?"

"It's quite simple really: though you may be a summoned familiar, you are still no mage," Guiche spoke almost imperiously, the lanky blond running a hand through his short wavy blond hair. "You can't possibly hope to best the likes of I, Guiche de Gramont, third son of the esteemed Gramont family."

The gathered students – with the exception of Louise, Siesta and Kirche – were loving the boy's theatrics, eating up every word he spoke. Piccolo, on the other hand, had to restrain himself from just slapping some sense into the boy right there and then.

Besides, the perfect opportunity to do would be arriving shortly, if the Z Fighter's guess was accurate.

"I guess we'll just have to see about that, won't we now?" the Namekian smirked almost menacingly; in truth, he'd actually been hoping for a chance to shut the boy up since the moment he had made a move towards the maid; and the idiot, so blinded by his own conceited arrogance, was practically handing it to him on a silver platter.

And sure enough, the boy reacted just like Piccolo had predicted. "Then it's settled. We shall duel at Vestri Court – I expect to see you there in thirty minutes, 'Familiar of Zero'."

With that, Guiche de Gramont turned and marched off, his posses of friends in tow, followed shortly by the rest of the students who had watched them announce the duel.

Watching the blond mage walk off full of confidence, Piccolo couldn't help but shake his head – the fool literally had no idea what he was walking into. It was almost cruel, in a way – like sending an unwitting deer into an enclosed room occupied by a hungry lion. Hell, the Namekian could practically see it now: the boy quaking in outright fear once he realised what he was truly up against.

However, Piccolo found his thoughts interrupted by the few individuals who had remained nearby: namely Louise, Siesta, Kirche, and another small girl with faint blue hair and rimmed glasses. Siesta was gazing at Piccolo fearfully, her entire body quivering; Louise was starting at him in open-mouthed astonishment; and Kirche and the blue-haired girl were eyeing him with great interest.

"W-What are you doing!?" Louise exclaimed, clutching her head with both hands. "You can't go challenging people to duels like that; it's forbidden by academy rules!"

"Technically, he challenged me," the Z Fighter replied, an almost casual expression worn on his face. "All I did was accept."

"That's besides the point," the pinkette groaned, feeling a headache coming on. This was the last thing she needed. "Anyway, you can't fight him."

Piccolo looked down at Louise with a raised eyebrow. "And why might that be?"

"Because he's a mage!" the young Valliere cried, concern evident in her words. "If you fight him, then..."

Piccolo almost laughed at that: she was actually worried for him, afraid the blond idiot might hurt him in some way.

And she wasn't the only one, it seemed.

"P-Please...don't do this, Piccolo..." Siesta pleaded anxiously, her body still shaking. Apparently, she too held the same ridiculous notion in her head. "I-If you...anger a noble..."

"I must admit, I'm not sure I fancy your chances," Kirche interjected while casually scratching the back of her neck, before giving the Namekian a cheeky smirk. "Though I'll be interested to see what happens out there."

Strangely, the small blue-haired girl said nothing, merely watching the Namekian warrior with a fixed gaze the entire time. Interestingly enough, the Z Fighter could sense a rather large energy coming from the bespectacled girl, similar to that of Louise. However, while Louise natural energy felt wild and unpredictable, this girl's was more focus and refined.

_"Definitely one to keep an eye on, that's for sure,"_ he mused momentarily, before turning his thoughts back to the upcoming duel.

Truth be told, Piccolo almost found it laughable that they would think this 'Guiche' kid posed any kind of threat to him – the sheer difference in their power levels was so unfathomable that he doubted the boy would ever reach a comparable level to himself, even with years and years of intense non-stop training.

And that wasn't evening mentioning the strong impression of 'all talk, no walk' Piccolo had gotten from boy.

The fact that Louise and Siesta were actually worried for his safety was like icing on a cake. Besides, it looked like he might actually stand to gain something from this fight, as it would give him a chance to send a much needed message to these so called 'nobles' and their overblown egos.

With a low chuckle that caught the four girls off guard, Piccolo turned to his tiny summoner, an amused look in his eyes.

"Louise, do you remember what happened this morning?"

The pinkette blinked, momentarily perplexed by her familiar's question. However, her eyes suddenly widened moments later, her mouth opening slightly as the proverbial penny finally dropped.

"Oh..."

The Namekian chuckled again at the girl's realisation. "Just sit back, and let me handle this, ok?"

Louise wanted to argue with Piccolo about his course of action, but after seeing the look of complete confidence in his eyes, she eventually relented.

"Fine..." she sighed. "Just don't do anything reckless, alright?"

Piccolo let out one last chuckle, shaking his head for a moment before nodding to his summoner. With that, the Z Fighter turned and made for Vestri Court, the four girls following in tow. As he went, Piccolo found himself grinning about the upcoming duel.

Oh, these kids were definitely in for an eye-opener – that much was certain.

* * *

The Tristain Academy of Magic had been constructed in the shape of a pentagon, with each of the five points had been constructed to symbolising one the five different elements of the Halkeginian magic system: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, and Void

Between these buildings were four courtyards, each named after mythological dwarf-like creature: Norori Court, Austri Court, Suori Court, and Vestri Court.

Vestri Court, as it turned out, was the central garden situated between the Wind and Fire towers. Being located to the west, it didn't receive much sunshine, even during the day. However, it was quite the suitable location for a duel.

And right now, this particular courtyard was packed, a large number of students having turned up once word of the duel between Guiche and Piccolo had gotten out. Currently, the Gramont boy was standing before the sizeable audience, showing off and bragging up how he planned to 'put that uppity familiar in his place'.

And the audience were, like before, eating up every seconds of his performance.

In fact, their cheers increased when Piccolo arrived, followed by Louise, Siesta, Kirche and the blue-haired girl. In stark contrast to the mixed emotions displayed by the four girls, the Namekian's face was like a blank mask, impassive and completely devoid of any emotion...or at least, that's how it appeared from a distance.

If one were to look closely, they would see a raging fire within the Z Fighter's eyes.

One that said he meant business.

With the arrival of his opponent, Guiche turned and lifted his artificial rose high into the air as he spoke, eliciting a cheer from the gathered audience.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the duel is on!"

Once again, the crowd erupted with cheer and applause, eager for the spectacle to begin. In a way, it actually annoyed Piccolo: it could have been anyone in his position, and yet the crowd didn't seem to care for that fact, even if it was someone who didn't have the same power and ability as the Namekian himself. For all they knew, it could have been just a regular person who'd been sucked into this world, and wound up as Louise's familiar, yet they would still be here, facing against the poncey blond mage and his massive ego – and unlike Piccolo, they might not have been able to properly defend themselves.

In fact, now that he thought about it, the whole notion behind this duel actually pissed him off somewhat: had it been a regular person in his place, then these damn kids would have shown up with the intention of watching some poor sod get battered to a bloody, mangled pulp by a mage with an inflated sense of self-importance, then gone back to whatever studies or trivial self-indulgences they took part in.

Well, if a bloody battering was what they wanted, then that's exactly what they were going to get.

"I'm glad to see you actually turned up, familiar," Guiche called out mockingly, a smug grin worn on his lips. "Otherwise, I would have been robbed of the chance to teach you to show properly respect to a noble, as you should."

Even now, the kid's arrogance was wearing at the Namekian's patience; the sooner they got this fight started, the sooner he could bring this obnoxious brat back down to reality, and send a message to the rest of these pompous children at the same time.

"I seriously hope you can actually put up a fight, boy," the Namekian growled, fixing the Gramont boy with an icy glare. "Otherwise I'm going to be severely pissed-off if you've wasted my time with this."

"As expected, such ill-mannered impudence," the blond retorted, waving his rose around almost leisurely, before pointing it towards his opponent. "Now, let us begin!"

However, an open palm from the Namekian stopped Guiche in his tracks, a confused look appearing on the boy's face as he wondered what Louise's familiar was up to now.

"Before we begin, what are the terms of this...'duel'?" Piccolo spoke with some disdain, still locking the boy with cold eyes. "Do we fight until one of us surrenders, draws blood...or dies?**"**

"What are you babbling about, familiar?" Guiche asked incredulously. "This is a duel! We fight until there is a winner – a true noble does not fear death."

The Z Fighter narrowed his eyes at that last part, with some of the students murmuring at Guiche's bold statement. _"You stupid fool..."_

With terms of the duel set, the two opponents faced each other down, neither one appearing to back down. Guiche moved himself into a ready stance with his artificial rose pointed forward, eyeing the Namekian with an almost condescending expression. Meanwhile, Piccolo remained unmoving, his arms still crossed in front of him, eyes locked firmly on the blond mage opposite him.

For a brief moment, neither combatant moved or even made a sound. At the same time, the chatter from the crowd had died out, the only audible sounds being that of the soft breeze wafting across the court, and the flapping of Piccolo's ankle-length cape.

Then, in one swift motion, Guiche flicked his rose upwards, causing two petals to fall to the tiled floor of the courtyard. The second the petals touched the ground, they each erupted in a burst of light, from which the bronze forms of two armour-clad female warriors emerged, each armed with a sword and a shield also made of bronze.

"My name is 'Guiche the Bronze'," the boy called out, almost beaming with smug pride at the appearance of his golems. "And these bronze Valkyries will be your opponents."

"Figures..." Piccolo barked in return, unfazed by the appearance of the two warrior constructs. "You don't even have the guts to fight me yourself. Instead, you have your little armoured dolls to do the fighting for you."

With a derisive snort, Guiche thrust his open hand forward, prompting his Valkyries into action. At once, the two armoured golems sprang into action, one launching itself toward the Namekian while the other positioned itself to guard its creator.

To the audience, it looked like the golem was moving with great speed, rapidly closing the distance between itself and its target. To Piccolo, however, it was as if the bronze construct was moving in slow motion, like it was submerged in water or some other highly viscous liquid. To him, it felt like a small age had passed before his first enemy was finally within reach.

Once in range, the lead Valkyrie raised its sword high, before sweeping it down towards the Z Fighter, intent on cutting him down where he stood; and to the horror of Louise, Siesta and some of the gathered students, her familiar made not a single move to defend himself or step out of harms way. He just stood there, watching the blade almost impassively as it sliced towards him.

And sure enough, with Piccolo apparently remaining completely stationary, the Valkyrie's blade soon found its mark. Striking true, it cut across the Namekian diagonally from shoulder to waist, eliciting a horrified cry from the two girls, gasps of shock from several members of the crowd, and a triumphant smirk from Guiche.

Or at least, that's what it looked like. After a few seconds, however, everyone started to twig that something was off.

Despite the blade have clearly cut him, Piccolo appeared to be completely untouched, still standing in place with his arms crossed, with not even a scuff on his outfit; yet they had clearly seen the Namekian just stand there and not even try to dodge the strike. To the onlookers, it was as if the blade had literally passed right through the stationary warrior.

Even Guiche was confused by his opponent's lack of a reaction, despite having seen his construct find its mark.

Without pause, the Valkyrie swung again, this time aiming to bisect the Z Fighter with an outwards horizontal slash, with the blade again appearing to strike true, cutting from one side of the Namekian's torso to the other.

And yet again, Piccolo remained completely undamaged, the Valkyrie's sword have not even cut through his gi. There was literally no evidence of the blade having touched him, despite the numerous members of the audience having witnessed the blade pass right through him with their own eyes.

Both Guiche and the crowd were getting confused. Twice now they had seen the boy's construct land a solid blow on the Namekian, and twice now that same Namekian had remained completely untouched.

The lead Valkyrie took a step back, as if even it was taken aback by what was happening, its seeming inability to hit a completely stationary target throwing it off balance.

Just then, Piccolo's cape fluttered momentarily, catching the eyes of a few audience members, including Louise, Siesta, Kirche and the bespectacled girl.

And then the lead Valkyrie exploded, along with several feet of grassy earth behind it, showering the area with shattered fragments of bronze and dirt.

"WHAT!?" Guiche exclaimed, taking a step backwards at the sight of his Valkyrie being so suddenly destroyed. His opponent hadn't moved once since the duel began, yet now the blond mage found himself down a already.

Louise, Siesta and Kirche, along with the rest of the audience, were at a loss as to what had just happened. One moment, the lead Valkyrie was standing there in front of a _still_ unmoving Piccolo...and the next, it was gone, seemingly destroyed by some unseen force.

"What just happened?" the pinkette asked, blinking repeatedly.

However, before anyone could answer, an unlikely voice cut in.

"Fast..."

The trio turned their attention to the source of themselves, finding it to be none other than the quiet bespectacled girl.

"Tabitha?" the redhead asked, looking quite perplexed at the expression on her friend's face.

Normally, 'Tabitha' had her head buried in one of her books whenever she wasn't in class, or practicing her magic. This time, though, her eyes were firmly on the duel, the blunette's expression oddly serious.

"Too fast..." the girl said again, causing the others to look at her curiously, before turning their attention back to the ongoing duel while trying to figure out what she meant.

Meanwhile, having recovering from the loss of his first Valkyrie, Guiche waved his wand again, dropping another rose petals to the floor. Within seconds, another bronze Valkyries was ready and waiting for his command.

"Alright, enough messing around!" the third Gramont child snapped, gesturing for his Valkyries to attack again.

This time, both golems went on the offensive, the two constructs charging Piccolo head on. However, about halfway between their summoner and his enemy, the two Valkyries suddenly switched direction, dashing to either side of the Z Fighter before turning and closing in. It was a two-pronged attack, which Guiche was confident would bypass whatever trick had allowed his opponent to avoid the blows of the first Valkyrie.

Yet again, Piccolo didn't seem to even register the oncoming attacks, remaining completely solitary as the two hostile golems closed in on either side. Again, Louise and Siesta looked on apprehensively with the rest of the crowd, wondering what would happen next.

This time, however, Guiche wasn't just going to let the Valkyries do all the work. Quickly chanting the necessary incantation, the boy then jabbed the tip of his wand into the ground.

"Earth Spears!" the blond mage cried, as a several jagged lances of rock and dirt shot out from the ground and raced towards the stationary Namekian, seeking to smashing him into the ground.

At the same time the two Valkyries – again armed with swords and shields – reared their blades back once they were within striking distance, ready to eliminate their enemy for the sake of their master; and again, the blades closed in on the their unmoving target with pinpoint accuracy.

However, unbeknownst the both Guiche and the observing audience, Piccolo had already planned his counter-attack. Thanks the to greater speed of Guiche's 'Earth Spears', they would reach him about the same time as the boy's golems – which worked out just fine for the Z Fighter.

And just as the incoming threats were about to reach him, Piccolo took action. At the very last second, the Namekian shifted into a slightly wider stance, throwing his arms out to either side of his body, and unleashing his attack.

"RRAAAAAAGHH!"

With a war cry like rolling thunder, Piccolo let loose a massive burst of ki from his body, the blast wave hitting both the incoming Valkyries and Earth Spears head on, and shattering them into countless completely, at the same time forming a wide crater several metres in radius around the Z Fighter. With the golems and earthen projectiles dealt with, the Namekian returned to his original stance, though with his arms held up at his sides this time.

Now that caught everyone's attention. Both Guiche and the crowd were stunned at the familiar's sudden display of power, having not just repelled the attacks against him, but destroyed them entirely, another shower of bronze and dirt raining down on the battlefield. Already, dozens of students had backed away from the duel, worried in case the familiar decided to pull out any stronger techniques.

Louise, Siesta, Kirche and Tabitha were now starting wide-eyed at the Z Fighter, amazed that he had pulled of that kind of powerful attack with almost no build up. However, what really caught their attention was that, bar the roaring war cry, Piccolo looked almost _bored_ throughout the course of the duel so far...as if he wasn't even trying against Guiche.

The thought that Piccolo was pushing the blond mage this much while not even trying actually frightened Louise a little – if her familiar could do this without even putting any effort in, then she didn't even want to imagine what he was like when he _did_ start trying.

"I hope for your sake that's not the best you've got, kid," Piccolo smirked at Guiche, much to the blond youth's ire. "Otherwise, you've already lost."

Gritting his teeth, Guiche swung his wand rapidly, dropping the remaining petals to the ground and summoning his final four Valkyries and sent them on the attack. At the same time, he chanted another Earth Spear incantation, and let loose with a second barrage of earth lances. Oddly enough, the second hail of Earth Spears were launched from behind the advancing Valkyries, which made it look like Guiche was going to hit his own golems with his own spell.

However, just as the spears were about to strike, the four charging Valkyries leapt into the air towards Piccolo, with Guiche's magic projectiles passing underneath them and heading straight for Namekian.

Piccolo smirked when he saw this: despite Guiche's little attempt at a feint, he's seen this coming from a mile away.

As such, when the Earth Spears finally reached him, the Namekian suddenly appeared to flicked rapidly from side-to-side, briefly becoming almost transparent as the oncoming lances of earth harmlessly passed through him, embedding themselves in the ground roughly a dozen metres behind him.

As for the leaping Valkyries, the Z Fighter simply looked up at them, and grinned.

Then, quickly gathering up just enough ki for the attack to work without obliterating his immediate surroundings, Piccolo took a step forward and thrust his right arm out, an open palm facing towards the airborne golems.

And with another booming roar, he struck.

"Destructive Wave!"

In that instant, his extended hand shone with an intensly bright light, as a powerful energy wave shot forth and crashed straight into the attacking constructs. The seconding the energy wave hit, a massive explosion erupted above the duel, the Valkyries being instantly vaporised by the sheer power of the attack, with the ground below them being torn up by the following shock wave.

So great was the force of the blast, in fact, that even though they had already distanced themselves further from the duel, the gathered crowd were nearly blown off their feet. Several students cried out in dismay at what they were seeing, while others ducked for cover as yet more dirt and rock rained down upon them.

Meanwhile, Louise and company were left speechless, all of them wondering just how powerful this familiar truly was.

Even more frightening, however, was the fact Piccolo still looked completely _bored_.

Guiche was now in full panic mode. All his golems were now destroyed, and his magic had now twice failed to yield a result. Taking a few steps back, the boy glared nervously at the familiar across the courtyard from him – he was still standing on that exact spot he'd chosen at the start of the duel.

The youngest son of the Gramont family couldn't wrap his head around what was happening here; he just couldn't fathom how a mere familiar – much less the familiar of Louise de la Valliere, one of the most incapable mages at the academy – could be forcing him back so easily...and without even moving, at that!

The audience, too, were in awe at the power being displayed by this strange familiar, having easily avoided being hit without even moving, and unleashing such strange energies with seemingly remarkable ease.

Louise herself was now seeing at her familiar in a completely different light: she already had her suspicions that he was powerful, especially after his earlier display in her room. This, however, was beyond what she'd imagined – the collateral damage alone was unnerving.

But what really sent a chill down her spine was that same uninterested expression on Piccolo's face – all because it sent one very clear message to her:

He wasn't even trying.

And then something happened that set _everyone_ on edge...

Piccolo started laughing.

Opening his eyes, the Namekian shot Guiche a look that made the boy's blood run cold.

"Not bad...for a kid," he taunted, sending nervous shivers down the spines of everyone present. "But I think its time we kicked this up a level."

That was certainly _not_ what Guiche, nor what anyone present, wanted to hear.

Widening his stance slightly, Piccolo brought his arms back to his side, and began gathering his ki.

Initially, nothing seemed to happen, bar the Namekian's cape flapping erratically behind him.

And then came the rumbling.

At first, it was very minor; a subtle vibration that you could only feel if you knew it was there. However, it rapidly increased in intensity with each passing second, becoming stronger and stronger until the entire courtyard was shaking violently, dozens of students losing their balance and falling to the ground as it happened.

And that was only the start of it. Seconds later, the ground began cracking and shattering, several large fissures erupting all across the Vestri court, causing students all around to jump out of the way as the very ground beneath them gave way. Along with this, countless fragments of loose rock and dirt began slowly rising into the air, all across the immediate area.

At this point, panic was threatening to break out amongst the gathered onlookers; they'd come here to observe a simply duel, not watch a familiar nearly destroy the entire area. In fact, many students had already retreated to the very edges of the court, wanting to put as much distance as possible between themselves and the ensuing chaos.

From the very edge of Vestri Courtyard, they watched in sheer awe. Louise, Siesta, Kirche and Tabitha could hardly believe what they were seeing.

"_What_ did you summon, Louise?" Kirche asked, eyes wide and mouth agape

"I...don't know..." was all the pinkette could reply with, another chill shooting down her spine.

However, any further discussion was abruptly halted, when the intensity of the tremors seemed to level off, albeit remaining at a constant earth-shaking tempo. Along with this, several dozen more cracks and fissure appeared across the courtyard, all of them originating from where Piccolo was standing.

For a brief moment, it seemed like the chaos had finally peaked.

And then Piccolo _roared._

Suddenly, a blinding light engulfed the Namekian, with an immense shock wave blasting out in all directions and quite literally knocked everyone off their feet. Along with this, the explosion of energy had kicked up a cloud of dust and smoke that obscured almost the entire courtyard.

Strangely enough, the rushing winds and raging tremors seemed to die out at that exact moment, meaning only the giant dust cloud left.

Slowly picking himself up from the ground, Guiche was frantically trying to figure out what in the founder's name was going on right now. This whole situation had spiralled completely out of control. He had already been on the brink of panicking when Louise's familiar had obliterated every attack he had thrown at him, but this had pushed him well past the point of snapping.

Just then, he heard something.

It was a very strange sound, like a high pitched chirping or hissing that seemed to fluctuate repeatedly. Not only that, but if his hearing wasn't playing tricks on him, then it was coming from within the rapidly clearing smoke. The Gramont child could only wonder what in hell was going on, his body trembling involuntarily. Likewise, the audience were also on edge, waiting with baited breath for whatever would happen next.

And then they saw it...

There, in the middle of the _huge_ crater that covered almost all of Vestri Court, stood Piccolo, bathed in an intense white aura of ki. With his arms by his side and his cape billowing out behind him, the Namekian was literally an otherworldly sight to behold, practically glowing with the energies that surrounded him, with jolts of electricity sparking and dancing across his form.

The blond mage was now gaping in pure _terror_ at his opponent. At the start of this duel, he'd expected to come out, summon a few Valkyries and throw around a spell or two, and be done with the familiar. Instead, he now found himself facing a power he couldn't even begin to fathom.

"W-WHAT ARE YOU!?" Guiche screamed in panic, shaking in fear as he hastily backed away from his opponent.

And then, in an instant, Piccolo was gone, literally flickering out of existence...and instantly reappearing _right behind_ an unsuspecting Guiche.

And that's when Guiche de Gramont, the third son of the Gramont family, heard the words that would be burned into his memory for as long as he lived.

"My Turn."

The next thing Guiche knew, a blinding pain erupting up and down his right arm, accompanied by the distinct and sickening sound of bones cracking and breaking as he was literally thrown off his feet. The young mage looked down for a moment, almost in slow motion, to see his right arm twisting awkwardly in a way it wasn't meant to bend, his rose wand dropping to the ground as his hand went limp.

With an agonising cry of pain, Guiche was hurled sideways by Piccolo's sudden attack, hitting the already shattered ground with such force that he gouged a small trench across the courtyard. The audience – Louise and company included – cried out in horror, some students even covering their mouths at the sight before them.

Slowly staggering to his feet, Guiche wobbled about for a moment before collapsing to one knee, pained gasps escaping through gritted teeth as he tried his hardest not to let the pain overwhelm him. Not only had that single attack from the familiar broken his arm, it had also knocked the wind right out of him.

As such, he couldn't even scream in pain, despite how much he wanted to.

But it seemed that Piccolo wasn't done with him just yet.

Tanking one step towards the stricken youth, Piccolo thrust his right arm forward – and to the utter disbelief of everyone present, his arm actually stretched forward towards the boy, striking him square on the chest. Not only that, but after the landing the blow, the Z Fighter grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, and with a mighty heave, not only lifted Guiche off the ground, but hauled the boy back through the air towards him.

And the moment Guiche was within reach, the Namekian delivered a lightning fast knee to the boy's stomach, causing him to cough up a mixture of spit, bile...and even a little blood. After that, Piccolo lifted the boy up until he was roughly eye level with the Namekian.

He glared at the beaten mage for a moment, before tossing him to the floor, a look of contempt on his face.

At this point, the audience was deathly silent.

They'd come here expecting a simple duel.

What they got instead was a bloody beatdown.

"Now then," Piccolo finally spoke, eyes still locked firmly on Guiche's fallen form.** "What do you say?"**

Guiche slowly and painfully tried to sit up, but the pain coursing through him was to great, and he slumped back to the ground, a pained grunt escaping from the boys mouth. Looking up, he saw the glare the Namekian was giving him, and he shuddered.

"I-I...I y-yield..." the boy stuttered in between agonising gasps, wincing with each breath he took. Given the pain he felt while simply breathing, he figured that along with his arm, he also had some broken ribs, too.

Piccolo took one last look at the boy, then turned and faced the stunned crowd.

"Let me make this perfectly clear," he shouted, his booming voice echoing across the ruined courtyard. "Your station, your rank, your so called 'nobility'...they all meant _nothing_."

He paused for a moment, letting his words sink in to the still stupefied students, before continuing.

"Just because you call yourself a 'noble' doesn't make you one. A person is defined by their actions, not their words. What you do speaks more of you than what you say ever will... and by a long shot, too. So, if you really want to call yourselves 'nobles', then you better damn well start acting like it."

And with that, the duel was over.

After calling for a few water mages to assisted the battered and bloodied Guiche, most of the students had dispersed for their classes, the gossip and rumours already running wild. At the same time, those near the approaching Piccolo parted like fish in water, not wanting to be anywhere near the terrifying familiar that had just single-handedly wreck Vestri Court.

Marching back to his summoner, Piccolo was greeted by Louise, Siesta, Kirche, and the girl 'Tabitha' all staring wide-eyed at him, mixed expressions of shock and disbelief etched onto their features.

"W-Wha...**_Who_** are you, Piccolo?" Louise stuttered out, gaping at her familiar as a sense of unease washed over her.

Siesta and Kirche didn't even say anything, merely blinking repeatedly at the ridiculously powerful familiar standing before of them.

Tabitha, meanwhile, managed to maintain some level of composure, though even she had been blown away by what she saw.

"Like I said: we'll talk about it later," the Z Fighter replied, before turning towards the academy. "For now, you should all get moving, otherwise you'll be late for your class."

In the chaos of the duel, Louise and the others had actually forgotten about their next class. So, with in hurried fashion, they turned and made their the academy, with Piccolo not far behind them.

Stopping for a moment, Louise turned and looked back at her trailing familiar, more questions that ever before now burning through her mind as she looked at the towering giant of a familiar she had summoned.

Now, above all else, she knew one thing with complete and utter certainty.

Piccolo...was _powerful._

* * *

And there we have it – that unwitting dolt Guiche opened his big mouth, and got his pompous ass royally thrashed as a result.

Not only that, but Piccolo pretty much scared the living _hell_ out of most of the present audience.

I think we can all agree no-one's going to be mocking Louise much after that, lest they get on the Namekian's bad side.

Also, for those wondering, that high pitched chirping/hissing sound was my attempt at conveying the typical dbz 'power-up aura' sound effect from the animé.

I expect there will probably be the odd typo here and there, so I'll be sure to go back through the chapter and fix those as I go.

Anyway, I do hope you guys found the 'fight' (read: one-sided mauling) both enjoyable and fitting, given the participants involved.

And with that, I'll see you guys next chapter.


	5. Preparations

**A Namekian in Halkeginia**

**Disclaimer** – I do **NOT** own either Dragon Ball Z or Familiar of Zero. Dragon Ball Z is owned by FUNimation, Toei Animation, Fuji TV and Akira Toriyama. Familiar of Zero is owned by Yamaguchi Noboru.

Glad to see the...'duel' with Guiche went over well with you guys – to be honest, I was a little uncertain at times how it was going to be received.

As usual, I'd like to address a minor brought up in recent reviews.

Regarding Piccolo's little power-up near the end of the duel: in truth, Piccolo actually didn't raise his power very much during that little display, despite how it may have appeared; and the reason for this is actually fairly simple.

First, consider what we already know: Piccolo performed a _very_ minor power up, and wrecked most of Vestri Courtyard as a result – _most_, but not all of it. Now, while my estimations may be off, Vestri Courtyard isn't that big of an area, considering it's essentially an oversized garden, given its description in the official FoZ light novels and portrayal in the FoZ animé.

Now, remember that Piccolo's power level, as of this story, sits roughly between the levels of Super Saiyan 2 and Super Saiyan 3 (hence why it was mentioned in chapter 1 that he could take on any of the other saiyans/demi-saiyans in their SS2 forms, and stand a good chance of beating them). Personally, I'd peg Piccolo's power level at around the mid-to-upper half between SS2 and SS3.

Now, in comparison, Goku – when facing Majin Buu in DBZ itself – was literally able to affect the _entire planet_ when powering up to his Super Saiyan 3 form; all of Planet Earth felt it when Goku powered up to SS3.

So, in contrast to Goku (who was able to effect an _entire planet_ by powering up), Piccolo only destroyed most of a small garden courtyard with his power up in the previous chapter. Now, bearing in mind that Piccolo's power level – as of this story – sits not far behind that of a Super Saiyan 3, then it's safe to assume that if he had actually powered up by any noticeable amount, then more than just Vestri Courtyard would have felt it.

In fact, I'd say it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to assume that the entire academy, along with the immediate surrounding areas, would have felt it if that was the case.

Anyway, I've spent enough time clearing up minor details – so let's get the ball rolling again, shall we?

"Blahblahblah" – Speech  
_"Blahblahblah" _– Thoughts

**Chapter 5: Preparations**

To say that Professor Jean Colbert was a notable figure at the Tristain Magic Academy would be putting it quite lightly - during the course of an over two-decade long career, he had become one of the most well-known magic teachers, viewed by many students and fellow colleagues alike as one of the finest minds at the academy.

He was a most passionate teacher when it came to the growth and development of the future generations of mages, with a curious habit of experimenting with odd inventions and delving deeper into the many mysteries of magic itself. Furthermore, he was a highly accomplished mage specialising in fire magic, with the runic name 'Colbert the Flame Snake'.

And most recently, the good professor had been quite preoccupied with the unusual familiar that young Louise de la Valliere had summoned just over a few days ago, at the Springtime Familiar Summoning.

To be more specific, he was interested in the runes that had appeared on the giant familiar's left hand, seeing as they were very unusual in their appearance. Therefore, the balding scholar had spent the past few nights researching numerous different texts for any kind of information that might help him with this private investigation of his.

And sure enough, it hadn't been long until he had found a lead, and from a most unlikely source, too; a very old tome, hidden deep within the inner chambers of the academy library, detailing the familiars that had been summoned and used by none other than the Founder Brimir himself.

As it had turned out, the runes on Miss Valliere's familiar were strikingly similar to one particular set of runes contained within the long-forgotten text – specifically, those belonging to the legendary familiar, 'Gandalfr', otherwise known as the 'Left Hand of God'.

In fact, the runes in the book and the sketches Colbert had made were almost identical, save for a few key minor differences; and if Professor Colbert's hypothesis was even remotely correct, then this would be extraordinary news!

Thus, with this new information on hand, the balding professor had made for the Headmaster's Office at the first opportunity, eager to share the news with Sir Osmond, the current Headmaster of Tristain Magic Academy. When informed of Professor Colbert's startling discovery, Sir Osmond – or 'Old Osmond', as he was sometimes jokingly referred to by other academy staff members – was _very_ keen to hear the finer details.

And details he would most certainly get, with Professor Colbert being more than happy to oblige.

Given the almost perfect match-ups between the two sets of runes, Professor Colbert had come to the conclusion that the young Miss Valliere's familiar was actually none other than the legendary Gandalfr itself. When questioned about the difference between the previously recorded Gandalfr runes and the ones that had Miss Valliere's familiar bore, Colbert theorised that it was attributed to the difference in summoners.

Now, while the good professor had certainly put forth some convincing arguments for his theory, Sir Osmond didn't want them to get ahead of themselves. While the reappearance of the legendary Gandalfr was surely big news, the headmaster wished to confirm this with his own eyes before he came to any final decisions.

Which, as it turned out, would be much sooner than anticipated; not long after hearing Colbert's news, Miss Longueville – the Headmaster's personally secretary – had informed the two teachers that a duel had broken out in one of the exterior courtyards.

Not only that, but it was a duel between Guiche de Gramont and Louise de la Valliere's familiar.

Upon hearing this, Osmond had instructed Miss Longueville to inform the nearby teachers not to interfere with the duel. Once the secretary was gone, the Headmaster used one of the mirrors in his office to observe the situation in Vestri Courtyard.

And that, in turn, lead to the current moment in time...

"Well now," Professor Colbert said, the 'Mirror of Far-Seeing' returning to normal now that the duel was over. "That was...most unexpected."

"Indeed," Sir Osmond replied, thoughtfully stroking his white beard. "To think we have such a powerful familiar walking amongst us..."

"And one summoned by the young Miss Valliere, at that..." the Professor remarked, scratching his head. If Colbert was being honest, that was the part that perplexed him; it was no secret that the young Valliere's track record with practical magic was...abysmal, to put it simply.

So needless to say, it came as a complete surprise when her familiar – 'Piccolo', if the professor recalled his name correctly – had unleashed his _quite literally_ earth-shattering power.

"While young Guiche is only a dot-class mage, he is a member of the Gramont family, after all," Osmond commented, still stroking his beard as he moved to his desk. "So he isn't exactly a pushover, by any means."

Professor Colbert nodded slowly in agreement. While it was true that Guiche was a bit of a skirt chaser, the boy had undergone some basic form of military training, as was customary of any child of the Gramont family. As such, Guiche was already a leg above most, if not all of his peers when it came to matters of combat and battle.

And yet, this 'Piccolo' had utterly demolished the boy, having completely outclassed him in every conceivable way. Everything the boy had thrown at him, the familiar had repelled with almost bored ease; and to top it off, when Piccolo had finally gone on the offensive, there was nothing Guiche could do to defend himself, being completely helpless in the face of the familiar's onslaught.

And that was what made the professor uneasy – if that was what this familiar was capable when he looked as if he wasn't even trying, then Colbert didn't even want to imagine what he could do when he _was_...

"Still, I believe you may be right about that familiar after all, Mister Colbert," the Headmaster continued, exchanging a look with the balding teacher as he leaned back into his chair. "He may indeed be the legendary 'Gandalfr', reborn into the modern world."

The Professor let out a long, slow breath. While he was initially ecstatic about his discovery, this latest turn of events had thrown matters down a completely unexpected path. While seemingly not possessing any magical energies – or at least, none that Colbert himself had been able to detect, even with a 'Detect Magic' spell – it was clear that Miss Valliere's familiar was anything but a commoner.

And then, like a bolt of lightning, a sudden realisation hit Professor Colbert, his eyes widening as the gravity of the situation began to sink in: if the familiar summoned by Louise de la Valliere was actually a reborn Gandalfr, and the Gandalfr was one of the legendary familiars used by Brimir – the Holy Founder himself, and wielder of the lost 'Void' element – then that could mean...

"In any case, I believe this is a matter best handled by the academy, for the time being," Sir Osmond spoke again, snapping Professor Colbert out of his train of thought. "While Miss Valliere's familiar may indeed be the reborn Gandalfr, there is no need for us to inform the palace of this development; knowing that lot, they'll just end up causing another unnecessary war if they get their hands on him."

Again, Colbert couldn't help but agree; court advisors had far too much time on their hands, in his opinion. Thus, he could only would what trouble they would cause if they found out about this particular familiar.

"Understood, Headmaster," the professor replied with a short smile. "I assume you wish this conversation to remain between us?"

"Of course," Osmond nodded in return. "For now, I will take responsibility for this situation myself."

So, with the matter settled, Professor Colbert bid the Headmaster a good day and left for his own office, eager to further investigate any information he could attain regarding the legendary Gandalfr – after all, if his new theory was even remotely accurate, then this was even _bigger_ news than he had first anticipated.

Once the professor was gone, Sir Osmond turned in his chair and gazed out one of the windows of his office, fingers lightly drumming on his knees as he immersed his thoughts in the far reaches of history.

"The legendary familiar...Gandalfr..."

* * *

The average classroom within the Academy of Magic was similar to that of a university lecture hall. Like everything else within the academy, they too constructed from stone, with the teacher located at the lowest levels of each hall, and the seats arranged upwards like stairs.

And right now, in one of those very classrooms, a class of students were busily chatting and gossiping amongst themselves as they waited for both their teacher, and the remaining students, to arrive. News of the earlier duel between Guiche de Gramont and Louise de la Valliere's familiar had already spread like wildfire, with most of the students wondering just what kind of familiar could so easily best a mage.

This particular class, however, we already well aware of the kind of familiar Louise had summoned, given that this was in fact Louise designated class, here at the academy. That, and most of them had been present for the duel itself, eager to see just what 'the Zero's' familiar could actually do. As such, the only students currently not present were Louise herself, Kirche, and Tabitha – and for obvious reason, Guiche too.

As it was, most of them were busying discussing just how it was possible for such an unsuccessful mage to summon such a seemingly powerful familiar, or why such an obviously strong familiar had bothered to stick around with a summoner like Louise.

When the door to the classroom opened, the remaining students all turned their heads to see who it was, wondering if perhaps it was Louise and her familiar, of if Guiche had somehow recovered quickly enough to rejoin them for their studies. However, when Kirche and Tabitha entered instead, the rest of the class simply turned back to their chatter, a few even letting out disappointed sighs.

That quickly changed, though, when Louise entered shortly after Kirche and Tabitha, followed a moment later by Piccolo himself.

The second the Namekian entered the classroom, all chatter between the classmates ceased immediately, the waiting students all staring at the towering familiar with watchful eyes. Of course, this hardly went unnoticed by the three latecomers, though they couldn't exactly blame their classmates for the way they reacted to the Z Fighter.

In truth, anyone with even an ounce of common sense was likely to act nervously around someone capable of unleashing such destructive energies the way Piccolo had.

Quietly taking their seats, Kirche and Tabitha were quickly followed by their own familiars: Kirche by her salamander flame, and in Tabitha's case, a creature known as a Rhyme Dragon, going by the name of 'Sylphid'. Louise, meanwhile, took her usual seat nearer the front of the class. However, rather than taking a seat next to her, Piccolo instead walked over one of the side walls of the classroom, and simply leaned against it, his arms crossed like usual.

Louise briefly raised an eyebrow at her familiar, but eventually shrugged it off as Piccolo being his usual self, having roughly gauged Piccolo's personality despite the relatively short time they had been together in their summoner-familiar partnership.

Normally, Louise's classmates would have likely mocked the girl for the fact that her familiar had opted not to join her at her designated seat; however, given the combination of who her familiar was, and what he happened to be capable of, the rest of the class wisely opted to keep their mouths shut.

In fact, this was something Piccolo happened to noticed as they were making their way to the classroom; he had overheard passing students gossiping about the completely one-sided affair that was his duel with Guiche, yet unlike before, the students were no-longer referring to Louise as a 'Zero' – no doubt out of concern that, if angered, she would probably turn her familiar on them too.

"_Looks like I gained more from that duel than I thought ,"_ the Namekian mused, allowing himself a subtle smirk as he shifted into his typical meditation position. Originally, his plan for the duel had been to both take Guiche down a peg or two, while reeling in that overblown ego of his; and send a message to the rest of the students that if they wanted to go around calling themselves nobles, then they had better start acting like it.

However, it turned out his actions had two unintended side-effects: the first being to show Siesta that she need not be as afraid of these nobles as she first imagined; while the second being that he had managed to ease most, if not all of the mocking and jeering Louise received from her peers. Indeed, all it took was a quick glance from the Z Fighter to silence any gossiping students whispering amongst themselves.

After a few minutes, the classroom door opened yet again, this time revealing a middle-aged woman of average height. Dressed in a voluminous purple robe and accompanying purple hat, she wore a polite and friendly expression on her plump, round face. Piccolo had already determined the woman to be another of the teachers here at the academy, given the way the students turned their attention towards her the moment she stepped into the room.

After sweeping her gaze back and forth across the classroom, the woman spoke with a satisfied smile.

"It's always nice to see results of another successful Springtime Familiar Summoning," the purple-robed mage remarked with another smile. "I do so enjoy seeing all the new and wonderful familiars that are summoned every spring."

After gazing around the classroom some more, taking in the new students and their familiars as she did, the teacher's eyes eventually landed on Piccolo, her eyebrows to arching and her eyes widening slightly at the sight of the Namekian.

"My, my," she spoke in a pleasantly surprised tone, a curious grin tugging at her lips. "It would seem that you've summoned a most...interesting familiar, Miss Valliere..."

Now, while the comment itself was a harmless enough observation, it was the raised finger pointed at the familiar that caught the attention of the students. Following her gaze, the class turned towards where the Z Fighter was situated...and promptly gaped in astonishment.

Piccolo was sitting cross-legged in a meditative posture with his arms still folded in front of him. However, what really caused the class to stare was the fact that he was _floating_ several feet above the ground. Not only that, but he was completely still while doing so, the end of his white cape dangling about half a foot off the floor.

Most of the students continued to gawk open-mouthed at the Namekian, while a select few students like Tabitha managed to retain some degree of composure despite their own surprise.

"Anyway," the teacher spoke after a few minutes, coughing heavily to bring the students' attention back to the lesson at hand. "I am Miss Chevreuse; my runic name is 'Red Clay', and this year I shall be teaching you the magic of the Earth element. Now then, let's begin the lesson."

With a wave of her wand, a few pebbles appeared on her desk, followed by Miss Chevreuse launching into a short lecture on the five main elements of magic – Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and the seemingly lost element of 'Void' – along with the occasional spots of question-and-answer with selected students.

This was followed by a short explanation of why, in the teacher's opinion, earth magic held a very important place in the lives of all mages, stating how it was tied to the creation of all matter, and without it, several vital and necessary tasks would be much more difficult, if not outright impossible to accomplish. She then moved onto the subject of 'transmutation', and how it was the basic magic of the Earth element, before demonstrating this by transforming some of the pebbles on her desk into lumps of sparkling bronze.

While the students were mostly paying attention to the plump teacher, Piccolo was only partially listening, instead focusing his thoughts on the information he managed to gather so far. He did, however, catch the bit about the different mage classes, which he tucked away in the back of his mind for later investigation. Furthermore, given the teacher's statement of her being 'only a triangle-class mage', Piccolo figured that she was a fairly capable magic user amongst her peers.

However, his own musings were cut short, when the plump teacher then asked for one of the students to demonstrate basic transmutation. Initially, Piccolo wasn't really that interested, but when it turned out to be Louise who was asked to perform it, he decided it might be worth watching after all.

Especially when several rather vocal objections arose from her peers.

Despite the protests of her classmates, Louise made her way to the front of the room, though the nervous expression on her face didn't go unnoticed by her observant familiar. Once the teacher had explained what to do, the pinkette closed her eyes, uttered a short incantation, and flourished her wand.

And that was when the pebbles exploded.

Several students cried out as the explosion erupted at the front of the class, in turn startling several of the familiars, further adding to the chaos. Kirche's salamander reared back on its hind legs, threatening to start breathing fire everywhere, while a nearby manticore flapped its wings rapidly. At the same time, a giant snake slithered about the classroom floor in a hazardous fashion, nearly swallowing one or two of the smaller familiars in the process.

However, just as the pandemonium threatened to overrun the entire class, it was stopped in its tracks by the booming sound of a deep, growling voice.

"Alright, that's enough!" Piccolo called out from above, having suddenly appeared in mid-air over the panicked throng. Not only that, but in one hand he had a very startled Louise, with an similarly startled Miss Chevreuse in the other, both help up by the collars of their clothing. "Panic's over, so you can all calm down..._right now_!"

At the sound of the Namekian's aggravated tone, everyone in the room stopped right there and then; whether student or familiar, they all got the Z Fighter's message, and promptly returned to their seats, the sharp edge to Piccolo's voice – combined with his usual piercing glare – helping to subdue the commotion.

It also helped that he had somehow managed to go from floating in a seated position at the side of the class room, to floating above the class with both his summoner and their teacher dangling from his grip.

After the discord had died down, Piccolo lowered himself to the ground before placing Louise in one nearby seat, and then Miss Chevreuse in another.

"You ok?" he asked once his young summoner had regained her breath.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine..." Louise exhaled, her heart still pounding like a drum.

"And you?" the Namekian then turned to the purple-robed teacher.

"Yes, f-fine...thank you," Miss Chevreuse replied while dabbing her forehead with with a handkerchief.

Satisfied that neither his summoner nor her teacher were injured, Piccolo glanced back over his shoulder at the where the explosion had occurred. From the looks of it, the blast had obliterated the desk, the blackboard, and the entire front row of the classroom – which, thankfully, had been total unoccupied...this time.

_"So, **that's** what she meant by 'exploding'..."_ Piccolo noted to himself as he turned back to Louise, who was now being seen to by Kirche and Tabitha, while a few of the other students tended to Miss Chevreuse. The rest, meanwhile, we still openly gawking at the towering familiar, still try to make sense of what had just occured.

The Namekian frowned thoughtfully for a moment as he eyed the pinkette; there was definitely more to this than just 'a poor aptitude with magic', and he was going to find out why.

But that would be for later.

"W-Well, I believe that's enough excitement for one day," the plump teacher then said, eventually getting back on her feet despite still looking somewhat shaken. "Anyway, I think I need to lie down for a bit. So, consider class cancelled for today; you are all free to use the remaining time as you see fit."

With her announcement finished, the teacher exchanged a nod with her class, followed by the students filling out of the room with their familiars in tow...well, except for one particular student.

"Not so fast, Miss Valliere," the earth professor called out, halting the pinkette in her tracks. The diminutive made turning to face her irritated teacher with a weak chuckle. "_You_ still have some work do to."

With a heavy sigh, Louise remained behind with Piccolo, watching as the rest of her fellow students disappeared out of sight. Once the rest of the class were gone, Miss Chevreuse instructed Louise to clear up the damage she had caused, though her familiar was allowed to aid her in this task. Furthermore, a staff porter would be stationed outside the room, waiting for the pinkette to inform them when the mess had been dealt with.

Once the instructions were clear, the plump earth mage left for the staff lounge, leaving Louise and Piccolo behind to get started on the young mage's punishment task.

Oddly enough, Kirche and Tabitha remained behind as well, offering to help clean up the debris for whatever reason; and while Louise was initially against the idea of accepting help – and from her rival, no less – she quickly relented after a stern look from her towering guardian.

So, the four of them got to work clearing up the debris from the explosion, each of them dealing with a designated section of the affected area. Piccolo took care of the heaviest lifting, though not without making sure the girls each put in their own fair share of effort as well.

Thankfully, it didn't take too long to get the classroom mostly sorted, with Kirche and Tabitha bidding farewell once they had finished their assigned areas, once again leaving only Piccolo and Louise in the classroom. With only Louise's area left, it didn't take long for them to finish clearing the room.

"Well, that's that taken care of," Piccolo commented as he gave the classroom one last look over, before turning towards the door and gesturing for Louise to follow. "Come on, let's get going."

However, when he got no response from his young summoner, the Namekian looked back over his shoulder, only to find Louise rooted to the spot, shaking slightly. Wondering what was wrong with the girl, Piccolo made to approach pinkette, only to be cut off when she suddenly spoke.

"Damn it, why can't anything go right!" the young mage nearly screamed with pained anguish, her fist clenched at her sides and her gaze angled towards the floor. "I can't use magic; everyone – including my own family – thinks I'm a failure; and the one time I _finally_ do something right, I summon a familiar who won't even listen to me...why does nothing ever work..."

With that emotional outburst, Louise sank to her knees and slammed her balled fists onto the floor, her tiny frame still trembling as countless pent-up frustrations threatened to finally pour out. She didn't care that she was nearly crying, nor did she care that Piccolo was very likely standing right next to her. She was just so tired of nothing ever going right.

For once..._just once_...she wanted something in her life to work out in her favour.

And when looking down at the distraught young mage, Piccolo realised something that, despite niggling away at the back of his mind for a short while now, surprised even him.

She reminded him of a young Gohan.

Years ago when he had taken the boy under his wing and trained him for the impending arrival of Vegeta and Nappa, Piccolo had seen the same traits in the young demi-saiyan that he now noticed in Louise: the insecurity, the apprehension, the uncertainty...they were strikingly similar, yet different in their own way.

The differences between the two, however, were quite stark in contrast.

Gohan had taken those same insecurities and self-doubts, and used them as a motivation to become stronger; to stand tall in the face of adversity when it mattered most; to protect the world around him and those he cared for.

Louise, on the other hand, seemed to do her damnedest to quell those same fears, almost clinging to her noble title as if it were her life-support, seemingly afraid of what she might find if she were to ever confront her own inner demons.

And, as a final interesting parallel: both Gohan and Louise possessed a hidden potential.

And like with Gohan, perhaps all Louise needed was someone or something to bring out that potential...even if by very _painful_ means...

Narrowing his eyes again, the Namekian marched back over to his fallen summoner, a new plan of action formulating in his mind; and while he could understand her frustration at falling short time and time again, wallowing in self pity wasn't going to help her do anything about it.

"Burying your head in the sand and feeling sorry for yourself won't make things any better," the Z Fighter remarked as he pulled the girl to her feet, earning a startled gasp from the pinkette. "If you want your problems to go away, then you're going to have to face them sooner or later."

"Then what do you want me to do!?" Louise shot back, feeling incensed that her familiar would speak to her like this when she was so obviously upset. "Like I've said, everything I do ends in failure no matter what I try!"

"Then we'll just have to think outside the box, won't we now?" The Namekian smirked, the look in his eyes unnerving the young mage somewhat. "Besides, it's not like you don't have ample power within you, if that explosion was anything to go by."

That last remark caught Louise off guard; _never_ had she heard anyone speak of her explosions in any kind of positive manner before, yet here was Piccolo talking about them as if they weren't something to be ashamed of.

"What do you mean?" the young Valliere asked slowly, anger and frustration slowly fading into curiousity. However, before the Namekian could answer, something tripped his senses. Eyes widening the tiniest fraction, Piccolo snapped his head in the direction of the door.

Without a doubt, he knew exactly what he had just felt, even as exceptionally faint as it was.

There was another ki signature somewhere within the academy...something the Z Fighter would definitely need to investigate.

"We'll talk about it later," Piccolo replied, ignoring Louise's last question, his eyes never leaving the door leading out of the classroom. "For now, get yourself cleaned up, then go join the others; I've got something I need to check out."

And without waiting for a reply, Piccolo pressed two fingers against his forehead, and promptly vanished, leaving a stunned Louise gaping at the spot where her familiar had stood not a moment earlier.

* * *

With a warping of the air around him, Piccolo flickered back into existence within one of the corridors farther inside the academy. No sooner had he arrived than the Namekian picked up that same faint ki signature from before, coming from one of the rooms farther down the corridor.

Briskly marching down the hallway, Piccolo kept his senses focused on the ki signature, in the off chance that whoever or whatever it was noticed him. However, with no change felt in the energy as he approached, he deduced that who or what this ki belonged to hadn't sensed him.

Drawing up to an old-looking wooden door, the Namekian slowly and quietly pushed the door open, stepping through in almost complete silence, his guard up just in case the presence in here was actually hiding its power level.

However, the sight that greeted him upon entering the room – which appeared to be some kind of scarcely used pantry or larder – was not at all what he expected.

There, in the centre of the room, was the black-haired maid Siesta. However, instead of her regular working attire, she was instead dressed in a pair of worn-out black trousers, an old-looking white vest, and what looked like black martial arts shoes.

Stranger than her appearance, though, was what she was actually doing.

The moment he spotted her movements, Piccolo released what was going on – she was practicing martial arts katas; and not only that, but katas that were actually vaguely familiar to the Z Fighter, though why exactly that was, he could quite place.

As for the ki signature he had sensed, it was definitely coming from her. The ebb and flow of the faint energies from within her told him right there and then that she had some for of ki control, even though it was plainly at a most basic of basic levels, akin to that of a regular human martial artist.

Still, the fact that this girl was not only practicing slightly familiar katas, but also possessed a very basic level of ki control, really piqued the Namekian's curiosity. Not only that, but despite her seemingly shy and timid nature, their was an almost natural flow to her movements – a clear sign that she regular practiced these moves and techniques.

However, rather than interrupting the girl and disrupting her apparent practice, Piccolo decided instead to simply watch for now, leaning back against the far wall with crossed arms. After several minutes, the girl finished her current kata, letting out a long and slow breath as she relaxed her body, her arms slowly falling to her sides.

"Not bad at all," Piccolo remarked with a faint smile, eliciting a startled yelp from the girl as she spun around, practically leaping backwards at the sight of the towering familiar. "Out of everyone I've met here so far, I'd never have figured you to be a martial artist."

"P-Piccolo? What are you doing here?" Siesta stammered with a furrowed brow, having not expected anyone – especially him, of all people – to show up.

"I sensed something from nearby, and decided to check it out," he replied, seeing no reason to lie to the girl. He then fixed the maid with questioning eyes as he spoke. "Where did you learn those moves?"

Siesta blinked, having not expected the tall familiar to show any interest in what she was doing. However, after clearing her throat and calming her nerves, she answer with a smile. "My father taught them to me when I was younger, though they were passed to him from his father; so really, you could say I actually learnt them from my grandfather, through my father."

"I see," Piccolo replied with a thoughtful nod as he eyed the girl closely. If that was the case, it was likely her father also taught her some ki control techniques, though given the level she possessed, they were likely just simple exercises like deep-breathing or meditation...and nothing anywhere even remotely near the level Piccolo was accustomed to.

Still, there must have been a reason why this quiet unassuming young girl would take up martial arts, which made the Namekian even more curious about her. "So, what caused you to take up these martial arts?"

"I guess you could say it was my grandfather," Siesta replied, the smile fading from her lips as she took on an almost distant expression. "Ever since I was a little girl, I would hear stories about him; how he was a great warrior, a strong man with a kind heart. I was told how he kept entire bandits groups away from our village all by himself, using his amazing strengths and skills."

"Even though I never got to meet my grandfather, I always admired him; from what I heard, he sounded like an amazing man...I guess I wanted to be just like him..." the raven-haired girl paused for a moment, a misty-eyed smile spreading across her features. "So, I decided to follow in his footsteps, and become strong enough so that one day I could protect my village, just like he once did."

Again Piccolo nodded, a fleeting smile dancing across his mouth as he watched the girl; _that_ was something you could call 'noble', contrary to what most of the self-important kids here at the academy believed.

Still, this was a most unexpected discovery the Z Fighter had made – and it was definitely one he would need to keep tabs on.

And then an idea came to mind; one that Piccolo couldn't help but mentally chuckle at. Even then, despite the potential of the idea, he would have to wait until he was certain it would be a definite possibility – though if he was right, that time might be much sooner than expected.

"Well, it's good to know you have such an admirable goal in mind," Piccolo commented with another slight smirk, causing Siesta to blush slightly. "As for the moves, keep on practicing them any chance you get; you're doing alright for where you are just now, but there's always room for improvement."

Siesta nodded in return at the Namekian's wise words, before watching as he turned and made to exit the store room. However, before he got their, a thought suddenly came to mind.

"W-Wait! Siesta called out, causing the Z Fighter to look back over his shoulder at her. "C-Could I ask a favour of you...Piccolo?"

"Sure - what is it?"

"C-Could you...not tell anyone about this?" Siesta asked while fiddling nervously with her hands. "I'd rather keep this to myself...for now."

Piccolo quirked an eyebrow at the black-haired girl, but figured there was no harm in allowing her to practice in private. "No problem."

Siesta smiled, her face brightening up when Piccolo agreed to keep her training a secret. After that, the Namekian turned and exited the pantry, but not without a parting wave back at raven-haired maid, leaving her to return to her katas...seemingly with more effort than before.

With that little matter resolved, Piccolo had only one more thing to deal with – fortunately, if Louise's schedule was even halfway accurate, they would have plenty of time to deal with it later on that evening.

* * *

"...and that brings us to where I am now: right here, with all of you."

A soon as the Namekian was done speaking, he leaned back against the far wall of Louise's room, waiting for any questions that might arise..

The silence that followed instead was almost deafening, the only audible sound being the evening breeze blowing in through the open window.

However, the Z Fighter couldn't exactly blame them for reacting the way they did.

Right now, it was late in the evening, with Piccolo having just finished giving giving them a summarised version of his past – or as summarised as one could get, in a situation like Piccolo's – leading up to the events at the Springtime Familiar Summoning the previous day. Seeing as how their last session that day was a 'free period' for students to carry out their own independent studies or magical practices, the Namekian decided that would be the ideal time for him to explain his own situation to his young summoner.

Initially it had only been Louise who he had planned to tell his story to, but before he knew it, the involved group had ballooned to include Siesta, Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche – which was surprising, considering the thrashing Piccolo had given the boy during their 'duel' – and another girl by the name of Montmorency.

Siesta's presence was pretty self explanatory, given the Z Fighter's recent interactions with her, along with his little discovery regarding her martial arts.

In regards to Kirche and Tabitha, they appeared to have taken a great interest in the 'walking enigma', as Kirche has rather playfully put it.

In Guiche's case, the boy had practically prostrated himself at Piccolo's feet later that day, spouting something about 'seeing the error of his foolish ways' and wishing to know more about the 'great warrior' who had so easily bested him.

And as for the Montmorency girl – full name she was apparently one of the two students Guiche had originally offended with his two-timing antics. However, it appeared that the two had reconciled a little, after Guiche had supposedly gone and apologised to the two girls once he had recovered just enough to move around – in no small part thanks to the efforts of the schools water mages. On top of that, she was seemingly curious about the familiar that had 'taught Guiche a valuable lesson'.

So in the end, it had gone from it being just Louise, to the small group of aforementioned people...all of whom were now staring in utterly dumbstruck stupor at the Namekian, as if he had just grown a second head. Even the usually cool and collected Tabitha was staring open-mouthed at him, though not to the same degree as the others currently gawking at the towering familiar.

"What, no questions?" Piccolo asked with a smirk, finding their dumbstruck expression almost humourous. In truth, he had been expecting them to barrage him with questions the moment he had finished, so the ensuing silence while they tried – and mostly failed – to process what he had just told them was actually a welcome surprise.

Louise clutched both sides of her head with her hands, a look of painfully perplexed painted on her face. "I-I...think I need to go lie down..."

And she wasn't the only one, with the others looking just as equally outright flabbergasted, Kirche and Guiche massaging their temples as they tried not to let their minds be overloaded making heads or tails of what they had heard.

And it was all so much to take in, too: being a member of an alien species, _continent_ shattering battles, travelling to other worlds, dieing and being _wished_ back to life, merging with his separate other self, meeting time travellers seeking to change a bleak future, fusions between two people; repeatedlygoing _into hell _to crack down on revolting entities...

Yet despite how outlandish his story was – how completely and utterly _ludicrous_ the whole thing sounded – the Namekian's stony-faced expression and even tone throughout his explanation told them he was being deadly serious the entire time.

Yes, Piccolo's story was, simply put, one of the most outrageous and unbelievable that Louise or any of the others had ever heard in their entire lives – and yet none of them could shake that ominous sinking feeling that the towering familiar was telling the truth...that it was all _real_...

"Anyway, that's getting late," the Z Fighter noted as the last rays of sunlight faded behind the far-off mountains, snapping the assembled group out of their collective torpidity. "You guys should probably turn in for the night; otherwise, you'll all be in rough shape for tomorrow."

With a collective murmuring shared between them, Louise and the others nodded in agreement with Piccolo's suggestion, their minds already taxed from taking in everything he had told them over the past couple of hours. So, with a few parting goodbyes, Siesta, Kirche, Tabitha, Guiche and Montmorency all took their leave and made for their respective rooms, mental images of the many crazy and inconceivable things the Z Fighter had told them already assailing their thoughts.

With the others gone, Louise and Piccolo were all that remained. The atmosphere in the room was so think you could practically cut it with a blade, the young pinkette simply standing there staring at her familiar with saucer-like eyes for several very long minutes, before the diminutive mage eventually broke the silence.

"P-Piccolo?" Louise stuttered, her voice already starting to fail her.

"What is it?" the Namekian replied, glancing at the young strawberry out the corner of his eye.

For a moment, the pinkette fumbled - there was just so she wanted to know, so much she wanted to ask him after everything she had heard; yet she knew she would never fully be able to understand even half of the things he had told them just there.

So instead, she asked the one question that seemed to sum up everything she was dieing to know...

"Just...who _are_ you, Piccolo?" Louise finally managed mustered, gulping slightly as she awaited his answer.

However, the answer he gave her was not the answer she expected.

"I already told you," Piccolo stated, fixing his summoner with a piercing look, one which the pinkette could practically feel burning into her very soul. "I am a Namekian."

"I see..." the girl eventually responded, before slowly making her way over to her bed, having already changed into her nightgown before the others had arrived. Once she had crawled into her bedsheets, she turned out the oil lamp on her desk with a subtle snap of her fingers. Then, taking one last look at her familiar, she closed her eyes.

"...Good night, Piccolo..."

The Namekian looked up at the now slumbering girl, the faintest of smiles flashing across his face.

However, once certain the Louise was asleep, Piccolo took a few steps into the centre of the room, and after checking there was enough space, began the next phase of his plan.

Now, if his investigation into the magic used by these people was correct, then the there were three main components involved: willpower, elemental affinity, and mage-class.

Willpower appeared to be the inner energies used by the mages when it came to casting their spells – in a sense, it was somewhat similar to the ki used by Piccolo and his fellow Z Fighters, though the method and usage were both somewhat different. Any time a mage casts a spell, it would use up some of their willpower. The willpower costs of any given spell appeared vary from person to person, though the general rules of magic seemed to apply generally to all mages. Furthermore, willpower appeared to be recovered mainly during sleep, or other rest periods.

Elemental Affinity, if he was right, affected how easily a mage could cast elemental spells of their own affinity - such as increased casting speed, or a lower willpower cost. For example, a mage with a fire affinity would have a stronger attack using a flame spell, than if they were to cast using another element.

Mage-class basically dictated the number of elements a mage could use, along with how many elements they could stack, whether it be the same element stacked multiple times, or two different elements stacked together. The main classes of mage were Dot, Line Triangle, and Square. Dot mages were able to use and stack one element; Line mages could utilise two elements; Triangle mages could use up to three; and Square mages - being the very strongest class - could use all four elements.

So, in the case of someone like Louise – who appeared to possess a significant store of this natural energy, but not the means with which to control and use it – this presented some...opportunities.

Pressing his hands together, the Z Fighter gathered together some of his ki and focused it between his closed palms. Then after a few minutes, he drew his hands apart, revealing a small orb of faintly glowing ki floating in front of him. After a few seconds, the orb disappeared in a flash, only to be replaced with what looked like a small, metre long stone pillar.

Grabbing the pillar in one hand, Piccolo made his way to the farthest corner of the room, and silently set the pillar down upright. Once it was in place, he put one hand on top of the pillar, and focused his ki into it. The stone object glowed with energy for a few seconds, before the dim light eventually faded from sight.

With the pillar properly situated, Piccolo then reached into his gi top, and pulled out the next object he would need – a small glass sphere with a flat base, no bigger than a 'magic eight ball', which resembled a snow globe.

However, this was no ordinary glass sphere, as within it lay what looked like a small structure...one which happened to bear a _very_ close resemblance to Kami's Lookout...

After placing the glass sphere atop the stone pillar, Piccolo then place both hands upon it, and began focusing his ki into the object, an intense light beginning to emanate from within the sphere.

And if one were to look to the window of Louise's room from the outside, they would see a strange glow coming from within...

* * *

And there we go – whatever plan Piccolo has in mind, it seems the pieces are moving into place.

And who knows what's in store for Louise at this point...

Anyways, another chapter with a few bits and pieces thrown in, which should hopefully give you guys some more to ponder about.

Also, regarding the little bit about magic and magical energies near the very end: I'm basically going with whatever information regarding the subject is available from the various sources, such as the light novels, the anime, etc etc.

Furthermore, regarding the bit with 'elemental affinity', I'm using the word 'Affinity' for a lack of better words, seeing it's not outright defined as 'affinity' in the Light Novels. These mechanics aren't explicitly stated in any kind of infodump section as far as I know.

So yeah – hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you next time.


End file.
